Exceeding Expectations
by Firestr2
Summary: A conversation with the Sandaime Hokage leads to a choice for Naruto to go down a difficult path. But Naruto is not known for being a quitter. NaruxTen Pairing. Smart Naruto. Strong Naruto, not God-like. Kenjutsu Naruto. Shadow-clone training.
1. Chapter 1: A Change of Heart

**Hey guys, Firestr2 here. This is my first fanfiction ever! Cool, right? Basically, I got to the point where I had read so many different Naruto Fanfictions that I began to have all these ideas pop into my head and as I read more, regardless of how fantastic they are, I found my satisfactory needs not being met. In other words, this is my take on how Naruto should've been written based on my own opinion.**

 **Comments and Reviews are much appreciated! I'm new to this and could really use all the help I can get! So thanks in advance!**

 **A/N: I do not own Naruto, that honor belongs to one Masashi Kishimoto. Again if I did, I would not be writing story as it would already have been made into the manga series and the T.V. series.**

Language Key:

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu." = Normal dialogue  
 _"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu." =_ Flashback normal dialogue

' _Kage Bunshin no Jutsu.' =_ Thought

 **"Naruto." =** Tailed beast/inner voice dialogue  
 _ **"Naruto."**_ = Tailed beast thought

* * *

Chapter 1: A Change of Heart

 _Konohagakure No Sato_

Uzumaki Naruto, just 5 years of age, with blond spiky hair, blue eyes that show his every emotion was walking down the street with the renowned Kami no Shinobi and Sandaime Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen.

"Hey Jiji, why do you always wear those robes and hat that make you look super old?" Asked Naruto in a very innocent manner.

Sarutobi merely chuckled. "I wear these robes because I am the leader of this village, the Hokage as people would call me."

"Is that why everyone looks up to you and respects you?" Questioned Naruto.

"Hmm… I guess you could say that is one reason why I am respected, yes." The Hokage replied

Naruto squinted his eyes together in concentration and after a few seconds of silence, his eyes flew open in excitement as he defiantly declared, "Okay, then I'm gonna become the next Hokage and take that hat right off of your head!" Curious, Sarutobi leaned over Naruto.

"Oh, is that so? Tell me Naruto-kun, why do you wish to be hokage?" As he asked this, he quickly noted how the young boy's bright personality seemed to fall right off of his face as he prepared to answer his grandfather figure.

"Because if I become hokage, then people will begin to respect me and not always give me those cold looks." Naruto timidly replied. "Do you know why everyone seems to hate me?"

Hiruzen frowned, "Naruto, I do not know why you seem to think everyone hates you because I don't see it; I mean after all, if everyone hated you wouldn't that mean that the Ichirakus and I hated you as well? As Hokage, I always have to view the people as my family and treat them as so." He quickly redirected the question so he wouldn't have to hear his surrogate grandson wallow in his sadness.

 _'I truly wish I could tell you the truth behind their glares, Naruto-kun, but you are not yet old enough to understand. Please forgive this old man's foolish mistakes.'_

"Of course not, Jiji! Why would you think that?! You guys are like the family I never had!" Naruto quickly replied to get rid of such unbearable thoughts. Hiruzen laughed before deciding to move on in topic.

"So you want to become Hokage then, do you not?" Sarutobi asked.

"Well duh! Why wouldn't I want to wear such a cool hat all the time? I'll make it so that everyone loves me and then I'll lead the village to greatness!" Naruto exclaimed excitedly.

The Sandaime Hokage thought carefully, knowing that his next words were going to be very important in the development of Naruto's ninja career.

"Well then, I'm going to be honest with you, Naruto. The road to hokage is a very difficult one to travel. You will need to train hard every day, make allies, and earn the love of the villagers. You will also have to be willing to sacrifice anything and everything for the village. Do you think you can do that, Naruto?" As Naruto listened with wide eyes, he grinned in a very fox like manner.

"Heh, bring it Jiji, just you wait, by the time I am done with all of that, I will be the greatest hokage ever!" Hiruzen smiled as a mischievous look appeared in his eye.

"I believe you, Naruto-kun. But first I should enroll you in the academy so you can start on this dream, yes? And while we're at it, let's get you some clothes more befitting of a future hokage." Naruto frowned.

"Hey! What's wrong with orange, old man?" Naruto pointed accusingly as Hiruzen roared with laughter.

"You'll see."


	2. Chapter 2: A Day at the Academy

Chapter 2: A Day at the Academy

 _One week later_

"Good morning class! I'd like you all to welcome a new student in your year, Uzumaki Naruto. He will be joining us from here on out and I expect you all to treat him the same as you would any other classmate." The class, all still groggy from trying to wake up in the morning mumbled out a greeting to Naruto before the teacher turned to the newest academy student.

"Naruto, allow me to introduce myself, I am Umino Iruka, you may call me Umino-san or Iruka-sensei, okay?" Naruto smiled and nodded.

"Got it, Iruka-sensei!"

"Great, well why don't you go and find an open seat and we'll begin the lesson for today."

Naruto walked up the aisles of desks passing by multiple rows of desks before finding an open seat next to another boy whose hair was shaped like a pineapple and currently had his head down on the desk attempting to sleep.

"Hi there! I'm Uzumaki Naruto, future hokage!" The boy lifted his head up with an irritated look as he glanced over his shoulder to observe the newcomer. Naruto, since last week, had forgone the bright 'kill-me orange' jumpsuit he was known for wearing for a more traditional shinobi attire. He was wearing a black long sleeved shinobi shirt with the classic red swirl on the right shoulder. On top of that he was wearing a deep blue shinobi vest with a tall protective collar and two pockets for storage. He was wearing black pants with part of his right thigh and both ankles and shins taped up. Naruto also had a kunai holster strapped on his right thigh where the tape was. To finish it off, Naruto was wearing a pair of black shinobi sandals. All provided for on the expense of the Sandaime Hokage.

"Ugh, how troublesome, why is it always loud blondes that try to talk to me? Can't you see I'm trying to sleep?" He replied lazily.

"SHIKAMARU! WAKE UP!" Came the voice of their instructor, Iruka. The aptly named Shikamaru groaned.

"Well, there you go, my name is Nara Shikamaru, nice to meet you. If you don't mind I'm going to go back to sleep." And with that, Shikamaru put his head back to the desk only to receive a piece of chalk to the forehead.

"Shikamaru, this is the last time I tell you today or else Yoshino-san will be hearing of this!" Yelled Iruka.

"What a drag," sighed Shikamaru, "I'll pay attention, just don't involve that troublesome woman."

Shikamaru turned to Naruto, "Hmph, well, now that I'm being forced to stay awake, how about I tell you about everyone in the class?"

"Sure, I could definitely use the help, thanks Shika!" Shikamaru's eyes widened.

"Shika?" He asked.

"Heh, yeah, I like nicknames, it makes remembering people easier!" Exclaimed Naruto.

"How troublesome, now I have to remember to respond to two names now, thanks for that Naruto." Shikamaru groaned.

"Anyways, let's get started. Down at the front with the pink hair, that's Haruno Sakura, she's a bookworm and loud and troublesome. Next to her with the platinum blonde hair is Yamanaka Ino, she's also a loud and troublesome girl. Across the aisle from them is Uchiha Sasuke, last of his clan after they were massacred a few weeks ago, he's a serious brooder so I would stay away from him until he opens up more. Behind Sasuke with the dog on top of his head is Inuzuka Kiba, he's loyal to a fault, loud, brash, and troublesome but is always willing to help out. Next to him is my best friend Akimichi Chouji. Don't ever call him fat, you don't want to know what will happen, but if you want to get on his good side, the fastest and easiest way is through his stomach. To your immediate right is Aburame Shino, he's quiet and not as troublesome but he's a good guy, smart too. On the other side is Hyuga Hinata, she's the heiress to the Hyuga clan but is really shy and timid so approach her carefully. After that… hmmm well I'm not really sure."

"Huh? What do you mean you're not sure? You've been in this class for over a month how could you not know?"

"They haven't done anything to interest me, and besides, it's too troublesome to learn more names than the ones I already learned." Shikamaru explained as Naruto gained a glint in his eye.

"Well then, this class should be interesting, let's get star—"

"NARUTO AND SHIKAMARU, PAY ATTENTION!"

"Troublesome."

* * *

"Alright class, we're going to go outside to test your physical capabilities."

The whole class stood up and filed outside to begin their practical shinobi skills, however, Naruto hung back with Shikamaru to ask a few questions.

"Hey Shika, what are we going to work on outside?" Shikamaru groaned.

"Troublesome things that I'd rather not think about, Naruto." Naruto narrowed his eyes in suspicion.

"Well what kind of things?" Shikamaru sighed.

"I can't believe I'm explaining this. Well first we usually do a lap around the academy building to build endurance, then we test our speed in a race. Afterwards, we will typically work on chakra control by doing the leaf balancing exercise. Later, we'll work on shurikenjutsu and finish it off with taijutsu practice and sparring. I told you it's troublesome, I would much rather find a good tree to lay under and nap or find a good hill to lay down on and cloud watch." As Naruto listened his eyes began to light up in excitement.

"Are you kidding? That sounds awesome, with that kind of training, I'll be hokage in no time at all!" At this, Shikamaru smirked.

"Heh, not me. My goal in life is to be an average ninja with an average life who retires early so I can relax all day." Naruto frowned.

"EH? That sounds way to boring, Shika. You've just got to find something that motivates you." Naruto explained.

 _Motivates me, huh? I wonder._ Thought Shikamaru as he followed Naruto out to the training grounds.

"Alright, now that we're all here," Iruka sternly looked at Naruto and Shikamaru who both had the decency to look sheepish at their actions, "we can begin our training. My good friend here, Mizuki, will be helping us out today and for the rest of the year in the physical application of being a shinobi, you may call him Mizuki-sensei."

"For now let's split the class in half and work from there with one half going with Mizuki and the other half coming with me." Iruka continued as he proceeded to split the shinobi hopefuls between the two instructors with Naruto and the clan members all ending up with Mizuki. Iruka took his portion of the class to start running around the academy building leaving Mizuki with a bunch of interested kids.

"Okay, welcome to my boot camp! First, I'd like to start with some time trials, so we're going to have one on one races to figure out what your top speed is. So go ahead and pair up so we can race." Mizuki began the training right off the bat.

"Heh, I'll blow anyone here right out of the water in a race, just you watch me!" Claimed Kiba arrogantly. Naruto smirked.

"You know what? I'll take you up on that. If you're the fastest in the class then you're a good goal for me to surpass!" Challenged Naruto.

"Oh yeah! Finally someone recognizes my prowess! Hear that Akamaru! We're considered the fastest in the class!" Kiba boasted as Akamaru yipped in agreement. Mizuki took this chance to step in and take control of his portion of the class.

"Alright you two, since you're both so eager, why don't you start us off?"

' _Heh, of course I would get the demon brat in my group. Maybe I can turn this towards my favor by stunting his growth a little.'_ Thought Mizuki viciously as he prepared to rig the race in Kiba's favor.

Both academy students lined up to begin the race and could see the finish line about forty yards off.

"Okay you two, when I say go!"

"Ready? GO!"

The two boys immediately took off both running their absolute hardest to beat the other. At the ten yard mark Naruto started to pull ahead of Kiba shocking the class. Mizuki, however, would have none of that and channeled his chakra into the ground while stomping his foot lightly. As Naruto and Kiba both approached the twenty-five yard mark, Naruto noticed a slight protrusion on the ground and just as he was preparing to leap over it to continue the race, the rock suddenly shot upwards creating a barricade in Naruto's path. Out of instinct, Naruto leapt up to avoid it while performing a graceful flip in the air and landed on the other side of the rock to keep running. Naruto proceeded to finish the race a hairsbreadth ahead of Kiba but turned around fuming about what had happened to see a completely flat racing lane and Mizuki coming over to congratulate them on their race.

"Great run guys, that was some impressive speed you guys put on for first year academy students! Seriously, you should be proud." Mizuki claimed with an easygoing smile on his face.

"Man, I can't believe I got dethroned from my spot as the fastest student already. You better watch out Naruto, because I'm coming for ya and you'll never see it coming when I blaze past you!" Shouted Kiba as a friendly challenge towards Naruto.

"Heh, I'm looking forward to it."

' _Impossible! I've never seen a genin move with such grace let alone a first year academy student, it makes absolutely no sense! I need to look further into this.'_ Thought Mizuki with malicious intent towards finding out how Naruto avoided his jutsu.

The rest of the class was silent as they went through the rest of the races trying to figure out how Naruto pulled off such a maneuver but no one was quite as intrigued as Sasuke Uchiha.

' _How did he get that kind of reflexes?! I need that kind of strength if I am to ever kill Itachi!'_ Sasuke intoned jealously.

"HA! You may have beaten Kiba-baka but there's absolutely no way you could ever beat Sasuke-kun! He's the best in the class and he's so amazing!" Screeched Sakura as she swooned over the dark brooding look that Sasuke was currently showing. Naruto frowned as he sidled over towards Shikamaru.

"Hey Shika, what was that all about?" Inquired Naruto.

"What, Sakura? Oh, Sakura and Ino are Sasuke's biggest fangirls, which also goes along with why they are so troublesome." Unfortunately for Shikamaru, Ino overheard their conversation.

"Care to repeat that you lazy bum?" Shrieked Ino

"Ugh, why is it always troublesome blondes?."

* * *

The rest of the training went on as Naruto seemed to be a natural at every category of the physical training aspect earning nine out of ten bullseyes in the throwing portion and having the most endurance out of the class shown in their run around the academy. His biggest problem was definitely the chakra control portion where he was unable to do the leaf balancing exercise. At this time, both sections of the class came back together to do the taijutsu portion and to spar.

"Sasuke Uchiha!"

Sasuke stepped forward, an arrogant smirk on his face as his fan club swooned over his cool and aloof attitude.

"Iruka-sensei, before we begin, can I choose my sparring partner?" Iruka paused and rubbed the back of his head in a nervous fashion.

"Well, normally we wouldn't allow that, but since you asked so nicely, sure go ahead." Iruka gave the nod to Sasuke to pick his partner.

"I choose Uzumaki Naruto as my sparring partner." Sasuke replied casually.

"Ooooooooooooh." Came the class response as they felt the tension of Sasuke calling out one Naruto Uzumaki specifically.

Naruto calmly stepped out into the ring and introduced himself.

"Hey there, Sasuke! I'm Naruto, nice to meet you!"

"Hn. Let's see if you can keep up with an Uchiha elite." Sasuke turned his nose upwards as he responded arrogantly.

"W-well, okay. Let's have a good match." Replied Naruto nervously at being passed over so quickly.

"Hn."

Both boys turned to face each other in the circle after performing the pact of harmony and got into their stances waiting for Iruka to call the start of the match.

Iruka looked between both of them before stating, "Okay, this is a taijutsu match only, the winner is whoever remains in the ring or remains conscious. I want a clean match, got it?" Both boys nodded not taking their eyes off of each other for even a second.

"Okay, Uchiha Sasuke versus Uzumaki Naruto." Iruka paused to build up the tension.

"Hajime!" Came the call to start the match.

Neither participant moved, both studying the other to see who would make the first move. After a few moment of tense waiting, Sasuke became fed up and decided to initiate the fight between the two. Dashing forward at near genin speeds, Sasuke almost seemed to appear in front of Naruto whose eyes widened at the realization of what was happening. Naruto sloppily got a block up just in time to save an embarrassing first punch knock out and was immediately put on his heels. Sasuke followed up his initial strike with a left hook which Naruto blocked and then leaped into the air with a spinning kick. Naruto saw his opportunity, ducking low under Sasuke's kick and charging forward taking Sasuke's legs out from under him causing him to hit the ground hard as all of his air left his body in a loud _whoosh_. Naruto patiently waited for Sasuke to stand up before initiating the fight again.

Sasuke got up warily, he couldn't believe that he made such a mistake and took the first hit. However, just as he got back into his taijutsu stance, the interceptor fist, Naruto decided to take the initiative and set the pace of the match as his own. Naruto charged ahead using his superior speed to take Sasuke by surprise and attempted to punch him with a right hook. Sasuke moved to block but was quickly shocked when it turned out to be a feint and received a knee to the gut for his mistake causing him to gasp in pain and slide back a few yards towards the edge of the ring. Naruto decided to end the fight there and rushed in with another right hook. However, just as he was about to strike, Sasuke parried away the punch leaving Naruto wide open for a quick jab to the throat and a powerful kick that sent Naruto sprawling along the ground towards the other side of the circle. Sasuke then rushed in to finish the fight just as Naruto was getting to his feet. Seeing Sasuke's intent, Naruto quickly planted his feet and intercepted the spinning kick that Sasuke performed, winching at the power behind the blow. Smirking, Sasuke then threw a wicked punch that connected but before he could pull away, Naruto clamped down on Sasuke's hand locking him in place, and with an incredible show of strength, Naruto proceeded to throw Sasuke over the top of his back and out of the ring, where Sasuke didn't move for a few seconds stunned at his loss. After a few moments of silence, Iruka's voice rang out across the clearing.

"As proctor, due to Uchiha Sasuke being knocked out of the ring, I declare the winner, Uzumaki Naruto!"

Naruto turned towards his classmates only to find jaws on the floor at the spectacle. Thoroughly embarrassed at the attention he was receiving, Naruto reached up and rubbed the back of his head.

"Heh, uh hey guys. Hope you all enjoyed that!"


	3. Chapter 3: Academy Graduation Exams

**Hey guys, welcome back. Firestr2 here. In the previous chapter you'll have noticed a slight deviation from canon Naruto. I was completely serious when I mentioned in my summary that this would be a strong Naruto and I mean it! XD But anyway, this is where things really start to take a different path from the canon route. Enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 3: The Way of the Ninja

 _Time Skip: 6 years later; Academy Graduation Exam Day_

An alarm clock rang signaling 7:00 am. After a couple of rings a fist came crashing down on top of the dismiss button, throwing the room into an uneasy silence. Naruto, with much disappointment at having to get up, groaned as he rolled out of bed.

"Ugh… I hate morni— oh wait! It's graduation day! I've got to get ready!"

And with that, Naruto quickly showered, got dressed in his now normal shinobi attire and ate breakfast before preparing to leave. As he was leaving, he grabbed his twin chokuto blades and strapped them behind his back in a crossing pattern. While doing so, he quickly remembered how it is that he came by them.

 _[Flashback]_

 _Naruto, now 11 years old, was currently at training ground 23 working on his basics after a grueling training session that he had already completed. At this point he was working on his flexibility and chakra control using the leaf balancing exercise that had become so essential in his everyday routine. With his stamina at the level it was at, he could run around the entire perimeter of Konoha without even being slightly winded. He knew that his stamina was unnatural but that didn't mean that he didn't want to work on it at all; after all, a ninja that can outlast his enemy, wins the battle. Naruto polished off his workout for the day with a little bit of meditation to focus on his chakra network and truly understand how it moves and flows inside of his body. Every now and then, he would attempt to pulse his chakra out of a specific part of his body so he would be able to use chakra from any part of his body when the need arose. Naruto came up with this idea after modeling it after the concept of a child unlocking his chakra, where one would focus inside of his body to 'feel' out his chakra before accessing it. He knew that his exercise would be considered revolutionary, but he did not go out of his way to share it with anyone, not even his grandfather figure, out of fear of everyone around him growing even more hateful of him. He was still not aware of the real reason why everyone seemed to hate him, but was so used to that kind of judgment that he no longer noticed it himself._

 _It was after about twenty minutes of meditation and chakra pulsing, as he had come to call it. Naruto stood up and worked out some of the kinks in his muscles before walking off to head home. As he was walking towards the edge of the clearing, he thought he heard the sounds of fighting in the distance. Curious, Naruto changed paths and slowly made his way towards the noise that he had heard. After a couple minutes of walking, Naruto stopped at the edge of another training ground and widened his eyes at what he was seeing._

 _Weapons. Everywhere Naruto looked, there were weapons strewn along the entire clearing. In the middle of the clearing surrounded by the immense amount of weapons was a girl wearing her hitai-ate as a blindfold, who looked about a year older than Naruto himself, trying extremely hard to catch her breath. She had brown hair that was pulled up into two buns giving her a very innocent look. She was wearing a Chinese fashioned pink shirt and baggy pants that allowed for more flexibility in movement without giving away clues of movement. Surrounding her immediate area was three rolled out scrolls with a bunch of kanji that Naruto didn't understand._

" _Hey, there! I'm Uzuma—ACK!" Naruto flinched in shock as he quickly moved out of the way of a trio of kunai that came close to ending his short adolescent life._

" _WHAT WAS THAT FOR, HUH?!" Naruto raged._

 _The girl lifted her hitai-ate allowing her to view the training ground around her and spotted a blond boy around her age holding a very defensive pose with one leg lifted in the air crossing his body and his arms crossed in front of his face. Her face blushed slightly in embarrassment once she realized what had happened._

" _Oh my Kami, I'm so sorry, I've been working on my throwing technique without sight and heard your voice and immediately reacted." The girl explained while bowing to the newcomer as Naruto's eyes blink in realization._

" _Oh. You were training? That's cool, no worries. I probably would've done the same thing if someone interrupted my training as well." Naruto said as he shrugged off the situation._

' _Huh? He already forgave me? That was quick, he's definitely not like Neji at all if that's the case. Not too bad on the eyes either.' Thought the girl in bewilderment._

" _Well, anyways, I'm Uzumaki Naruto, what's your name?" Naruto changed topics as the girl quickly rushed to answer forgetting her previous thought._

" _H-Higurashi Tenten." Tenten introduced herself to the blond embarrassed by her previous train of thinking._

" _Well, like I was saying, I'm terribly sorry about what happened. I wonder how I can make it up to you." Pondered Tenten as she attempted to figure how to appease Naruto to apologize for the situation. Naruto began to wave her off as a lightbulb went off in Tenten's mind at finding a solution to the circumstance._

" _Mah, mah, it's oka—" Tenten cut Naruto off._

" _I GOT IT! Do you carry a weapon, Naruto?" Tenten asked._

"… _Well, I carry kunai, shuriken, and ninja wire if that's what you mean." Naruto spoke._

" _No, no, I mean like an actual weapon that you have to take care of and keep by your side." Tenten interjected._

" _Hmmm… well I've always thought that you have to keep your shinobi equipment in good condition." Naruto trailed off. Tenten face palmed in annoyance muttering under her breath something about blonds and idiots. Suddenly, Tenten perked up and asked Naruto._

" _Okay, really quickly. Can you grab a kunai in your dominant hand for me?" Naruto obliged, curious about what the bun-haired girl was going to do, palming a kunai in both hands._

" _Huh? I said your dominant hand, Naruto."_

" _Yeah, but I've always been comfortable with using both of my hands, it comes natural to me." Explained Naruto._

' _So he's ambidextrous, huh? That's definitely helpful in our line of work.' Tenten intoned to herself approvingly._

*poof*

 _A single edged katana appeared in Tenten's hands as she quickly took a stance._

" _Defend yourself, Naruto!" Tenten rushed in preparing an overhead strike._

 _Naruto's eyes widened at what was happening and quickly brought both kunai in his hands in a cross to block the overhead strike. However, just as soon as the impromptu attack began, it was over as Tenten's katana once again disappeared with a poof._

" _Okay, I figured it out, you reacted perfectly for one type of weapon, the chokuto. However, because of your ambidextrous capabilities, it would be better to have two, one for each hand, instead of only one._

*poof*

*poof*

 _Two identical swords appeared in Tenten's hands as she held them out to Naruto._

" _Here, these should be a perfect fit for you, I tend to have a really good eye for this kind of thing." Naruto took the two chokuto swords gingerly, noticing how well balanced they were and how light they felt in his hands._

" _A-are you sure, Tenten? These must have cost you a fortune to get." Naruto asked nervously._

" _Of course I am, silly! I almost killed you back there and this is the only way I can think of making it up to you. Go on, take it. I can easily get more at the shop my father and I run." Tenten waved off Naruto's concern._

" _O-okay, I'll take it then. Thanks, Ten-chan!" Naruto chirped, smiling brightly as Tenten's cheeks dusted with a little pink._

" _T-Ten-chan?! Why did you call me that?" She asked in bewilderment._

" _Well, because no one has ever done anything like this for me before. So thank you, seriously, from the bottom of my heart." Naruto said as he pulled Tenten into a hug. When he released the girl from the hug, he noticed that her face was completely flushed red._

" _Oi, Ten-chan, are you okay? You're not sick or anything, are you?" Naruto asked in concern as he placed his hand onto Tenten's forehead as Tenten started spluttering._

" _B-baka! Don't ask me such questions! Just get out of here, I have to continue training." Tenten nearly shouted in embarrassment before turning away in a show of defiance._

" _Okay, if you say so. For the record, from what I can see, I think you're a fantastic kunoichi and will only get better as time goes on! So I want to spar with you at some time down the road!" Naruto exclaimed excitedly as Tenten's eyes widened momentarily as she suddenly spun around to the mysterious blond who was currently walking away._

" _Naruto!" Said blond glanced back over his shoulder back at Tenten as he waited for her question._

" _Do you even know how to use your new swords?" Tenten asked curiously._

 _Naruto face faulted in embarrassment before turning around and rubbing the back of his head sheepishly._

" _Eh heh, no, Ten-chan. I uh actually don't really know how to wield these." He said. Tenten then addressed him again._

" _Well then, why don't you come back here tomorrow at the same time and I'll show you some pointers and you can start developing your own style from there?" Tenten asked expectantly._

" _Definitely, Ten-chan! I would love to! I'll see you tomorrow then!" Naruto shouted over his shoulder as he ran out of the clearing._

 _[Flashback End]_

Naruto grinned thinking about all of the training he had done since that point last year with Tenten. He knew that he was much stronger than he used to be with how he was constantly striving to get better. After all, his goal was to be hokage. With that thought in mind, Naruto opened his front door and left to go take on the academy exams.

 _At the Academy_

Naruto arrived at the Academy building with minutes to spare after deciding to take his time and walk through the streets of the village. Walking in to his classroom, he immediately recognized all of his classmates, however like Shikamaru said all those years ago, some of them did nothing to interest him and consequently led to Naruto not knowing all of the names of those in the class, instead narrowing it down to just the clan heirs, clan member (Kiba), and the only impressive civilian, Sakura. Passing the aisles leading to his seat next to his best friend Shikamaru Nara, he nodded to his fellow classmates as he passed by them. After sitting down, Naruto decided to take a page out of his friend's book, Shikamaru, and leaned back on his chair with his eyes closed to get some shut eye before the start of the exams.

"HA! I beat you to the classroom again, Forehead!" a certain Yamanaka Ino shouted as she and her competition both ran through the doorway.

"AS IF, INO-PIG. There's no way a pig like you could ever beat me in a race!" Screeched Sakura as both girls ended up flopping to the floor in a sprawled mess.

…Or try to get some shut eye.

Naruto cracked an eye open and glanced down at whatever it was that was causing the ruckus. Faster than the eye could track, two shuriken had the blonde and pink fangirls pinned to the ground immobilizing them in their positions. The room went silent as everyone figured out who threw the projectiles.

"You're being loud again Ino, Sakura. What have I told you about the noise?" Lectured Naruto to the two fangirls. Sakura sighed while Ino went red with embarrassment.

"To be loud is unbecoming of a shinobi and will lead to our death," complied Sakura. Naruto smirked.

"Well, since you two seem to have learned your lesson, I'll let you both off easy this time." Replied Naruto as he pulled on his hands causing near invisible ninja wire attached to both shuriken to pull the deadly throwing stars out of the kunoichi in training's clothes as they gracefully fell into Naruto's palm who slipped them back into his holster.

Just as Naruto was finished cleaning up after himself, the door opened as an unrecognized person walked through the door.

"Alright you runts! Sit down and shut up! Your normal sensei, Iruka, is having an off day and will not be able to perform the graduation exams. Hence, I will be taking over for him and his assistant, Mizuki, who already had plans for today and received explicit permission to not attend the exams. My name is Morino Ibiki, and as of right now, I own your asses!" Boomed the temporary instructor as he released a little bit of killing intent (A/N: K.I. from now on) causing the class to freeze up.

"Today, we will be going through a number of different tests. I will only repeat myself only once. Failure to comply will result in the immediate failure of that portion of the exam. You are all genin wannabes and I will not have insubordination while I am in charge and neither will your prospective jounin-senseis. Got it?" Ibiki thundered as he released his K.I. in order to let some of the students respond with definitive nods.

"Good. Now, pay attention! Today, you all will be going through four different exams to prove your worth as shinobi of the hidden leaf. To pass, you must all pass at least three of the four exams with the ninjutsu portion being absolutely necessary. The first portion will be a written test, testing you on the knowledge of the shinobi handbook, the history of the leaf village, and your knowledge on how to survive in different scenarios. You will notice that most of these questions have more than one 'correct' option, however, the point is not to choose any of the correct choices but to choose the BEST of the correct choices. Cheating will result in automatic failure. There are one-hundred multiple choice questions. You have one hour. Any questions?"

Two students raised their hands hoping to have some of their confusion cleared up. Unfortunately for them, Ibiki was not in the mood to tolerate questions.

"Daibo, Rei! Both of you fail! I already clarified that I would not repeat myself. Leave the classroom and join us during the next portion of the exam!" Mortified, the two students ran from the classroom unable to hold their emotions in.

"Any other questions?" Ibiki glowered.

The rest of the classroom remained silent. Ibiki nodded.

BEGIN!" Ibiki turned away from the class to note the time and as the second hand stroke the sixty second mark, Ibiki released the genjutsu he had on all of the tests causing them all to appear at once. In shock, the whole class scrambled to get started on the test.

Naruto was impressed by the immediate authority that Ibiki was able to command simply through his words and presence and immediately turned his attention towards the test when it appeared, reading the first question in his head.

*Who was the Shodaime Hokage?*

' _Heh, that's easy, I know this one. A hokage has to know who his predecessors were any way.'_ Intoned Naruto until he looked at the answer choices.

*Tobirama Senju*

*Madara Uchiha*

*Mito Uzumaki*

*Hiruzen Sarutobi*

' _WHAAT!? None of these are correct! How am I supposed to answer this one? Whatever, I'll just cross of this one and write down the correct answer as another choice and circle that one.'_

Ibiki smirked as he could almost hear the frustrations and anger of the students taking the test.

* * *

 _(30 Minutes Later)_

Having completed the written exam, Naruto put his pencil down and decided to catch up on the sleep that he missed out on earlier.

"Okay, pencils down runts. Start handing in your exams." Ibiki's voice rang throughout the room.

"What?! But we still have five minutes left! You said we had a full hour!" Came the cry of one very distraught civilian shinobi wannabe.

"If you haven't finished by now, you won't be finished in five minutes. By the way, Taro! Fail! I already told you guys that insubordination would not be tolerated and you just went against my word! Hand in your test and go step outside." Ibiki roared as he took Taro's test and ripped it in two halves before burning it in his palm with a low level fire jutsu.

"The rest of you all automatically pass the written portion of the academy graduation exams!"

"Huh? Then what was the point of all the questions if you're not going to even grade it?" A furious Kiba spat. Ibiki chuckled.

"The point of the test was to see how strong your resolve was to follow direct orders from a higher up, and you all performed admirably, even when the task was made to be difficult. Now follow me, we will meet back up with your three classmates and begin the throwing portion of the exam." Ibiki called as he quickly turned on his heel and walked out of the room. For a few seconds, the class just stared wondering what had happened before they all started scrambling around to follow Ibiki.

* * *

Outside at the training posts and dummies, Ibiki turned to face the class.

"Alright, welcome to the second portion of the exam. Shurikenjutsu. In this exam, each student will throw five kunai followed by five shuriken. You will be scored by how close you got to the target on the training posts or the dummies. You do not have to throw at both the post and the dummy, you can choose one or the other. All throws will be performed as a draw from your kunai or shuriken pouch. Points will be deducted for incomplete throws, hesitation, or failure to hit the target. In order to pass, each student needs to score at least a six out of ten. I believe that is too generous, but I am going by the book on this one. We will go in alphabetical order. Prepare yourself!" Explained the scarred tokubetsu-jounin.

Naruto watched the first couple students throw before he got bored and began to think about how he was going to approach the throwing portion of the exam. Just as he was about to complete his plan, however, he was jolted from the thought by the sound of Ibiki's voice.

"Uzumaki Naruto, you're up!" Naruto responded by stepping up to the line and taking a deep breath. After calming his heart rate, he focused on the target as his fingers itched towards his kunai pouch. A second later five quick thunk sounds filled the clearing followed by five more thunks by his shuriken being thrown. Standing upright to look at his efforts, Naruto smiled to see what he wanted to see. _'Yes! Looks like my training with Ten-chan really paid off!'_ Naruto thought excitedly.

"HA! Look, Naruto didn't hit any of the targets, Ibiki-sensei! That's a zero out of ten. What a loser." Came the cry of one of the other students who had been watching. It was at this moment that Naruto decided to put his plan into action.

"Morino-san, before you take down my grade, I would like to direct your attention to the exact _placement_ of all of my throwing weapons, if you would please." Ibiki, intrigued by the youngster's tenacity, decided to indulge his curiosity and examined the training dummy that Naruto had thrown at until his eyes widened.

' _Incredible! Every kunai and shuriken hit an instant kill area and he looks smug while doing it. Hah! Maybe what I say next will teach these brats the importance of going above and beyond the task given to you.'_

"Naruto Uzumaki, 12 out of 10 points. Congratulations, that is the highest grade for today so far and you have tied the record set by none other than the Yondaime Hokage." Assessed Ibiki.

"HUH?! How did he get extra points? Shouldn't he have gotten zero points? He didn't hit any of the targets!" Came the same voice from earlier. Ibiki sighed.

"Can any of you tell me why I gave Uzumaki-san extra points?" Ibiki questioned the class.

No one responded as Ibiki face palmed and growled.

"I awarded Uzumaki-san 2 extra points because instead of just following orders, he went above and beyond and sent his shuriken and kunai at kill points instead of just the targets which would result in a mere wound where the enemy shinobi could potentially survive the encounter. Moving on! Yamanaka Ino! You're next!

Ino stepped up and started throwing and by the end of the session had earned herself a seven out of ten for a grade.

"Alright gakis, follow me and we'll get started on the taijutsu portion of the exams." Commanded Ibiki as the rest of the class followed.

* * *

Stopping at the taijutsu ring, Ibiki stepped inside before addressing the examinees.

"Now for the third part of the exam. As shinobi, it is expected for all of you to be able to handle yourselves in the heat of combat. Taijutsu is the most common form of attack used by ninja everywhere and there will always be someone better than you in this world. Regardless of how you perform today, I expect each and every one of you to continue training your taijutsu practices every day, striving to be better than the day prior." Lectured Ibiki to the now wide-eyed class. Noticing that he had everyone's full attention, Ibiki chuckled.

"The way this portion of the exam will proceed is I will be calling any two names at random and both participants will step into the ring for a taijutsu match. Anything goes, the only thing I expect is no killing blows and no ninja tools, everyone should be able to fight without having to resort to killing every time, this style of fighting can be used for when you need to take someone out to extract information from, or to extract a VIP without a struggle. The way to win is by knocking your opponent unconscious or by forcing your opponent out of the ring. First two contestants, Haruno Sakura and Kaito Kawasaki, you're up!" Ibiki elaborated while starting the exam without wasting any time at all.

Meanwhile, Naruto, after hearing the names of the first two fighters, blocked out the seemingly boring fight as he began to ponder how he was going to approach the exams.

' _Hmmm, based on what Ten-chan told me the other day, it's vital to a shinobi's survival to always have an ace up there sleeve. I'm pretty sure that she means that I should never reveal all of my techniques or strengths at any given time. That means that I probably shouldn't use THAT taijutsu form. No matter, I've practiced with the academy taijutsu style to use it in conjunction with what everyone else already knows about me.'_

Shikamaru, noticing his friends zoned out behavior, decided to snap his favorite, least troublesome blond out of his funk.

"Naruto, I know it's bothersome for me to say this, especially because you're one of the strongest in this class, but try not to take these exams to seriously. You'll have white hair before you even become a genin." Shikamaru drawled lazily. At this, Naruto grinned cheekily.

"Sorry Shika, was it that obvious? I was just trying to get a feel for how this exam works and how I'm going to approach it." Naruto quickly responded. Shikamaru groaned.

"Why do you insist on doing these things? I would much rather be relaxing right now instead of gearing up for a fight." Naruto laughed.

"Man, have you always been this lazy?" Naruto quipped as Shikamaru glared in response, "But seriously, that's why you're my best friend, dude. You balance me out. Whenever I go overboard, you tend to be right there telling me to relax and not be so 'troublesome.' Naruto poked fun at Shikamaru's favorite word because he knew that it was Shikamaru's way of cursing without having to actually do the action.

"Whatever," Shikamaru droned, "this whole thing is such a drag anyways, all of know exactly who's going to pass anyways, it's not a secret or anything. Anyone with a brain could have figured it out, is all I'm saying."

"Yeah, well... whatever Shika. I'm not going to 'take this easy' as you put it. I'd rather be completely prepared then go in blind." Naruto retorted.

"You know, there's a saying that 'those who attempt to prepare for everything always forget the one that works." Spoke Shikamaru sagely.

Naruto nodded. "Of course, yeah, that makes sense. After all, it is impossible to prepare for everything. But what I'm doing isn't preparing for everything around me, but preparing myself for this exam." Shikamaru snorted.

"I still don't understand what you're preparing yourself for though. That's my point."

"Uzumaki Naruto, Shikamaru Nara! Front and center!" Came the booming voice of Ibiki.

Naruto and Shikamaru both turned to face each other. Naruto shrugged as he asked,

"No hard feelings regardless of the outcome?

"Sure thing, Naruto." Came Shikamaru's reply.

Both fighters stepped out into the ring as Ibiki mentioned the rules of the spar once again.

"Are you both ready?" Ibiki questioned.

A firm nod came from both participants as they squared their shoulders and got into their respective stances. Taking their stances as being ready for the fight to begin, Ibiki nodded.

"Hajime!"

Before the fight could even begin, Shikamaru immediately bent down on one knee with his hands in the ram sign.

"Kagemane no Jutsu success." Came the lazy sound of Shikamaru's voice.

Ibiki immediately face faulted.

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT, GAKI?!" Ibiki roared. Shikamaru sighed.

"It doesn't matter. Regardless of how I approach this fight, there is no possible way that I could ever reach Naruto's taijutsu prowess or his stamina. I was at a disadvantage as soon as my name was called. Ibiki-san, I forfeit my match and my exam ticket for this portion of the exams." Shikamaru intelligently explained.

Ibiki started muttering darkly under his breath something about damn Naras and their laziness and how they can shove it where the sun don't shine.

"Alright, moving on. Uzumaki, you pass the taijutsu portion by default it would seem." Ibiki mentioned.

* * *

The rest of the fights occurred between civilian academy students and passed by rather quickly without incident. After all of the fighting and judging was done, Ibiki led the students back inside for the ninjutsu exam.

"Alright, now begins the ninjutsu part of the exam, the way this will go is I will call you up in alphabetical order and you will come to the back room where you will perform the henge jutsu, the kawarimi jutsu, and the bunshin jutsu in that order. Failure to complete any of these basic jutsus will result in immediate failure and because I said that this portion was mandatory, if you fail, you will be held back until the next time the graduation exams occur. Understood?" Growled Ibiki.

"Haaai." Came the drawn out response of the class.

"Perfect. I hope I am understood when I say that I do not want this part to take very long. I still would like to get back to my normal job of tort— eh, interrogating people for information at the IT Department." Ibiki mentioned to the class, releasing a little bit of his K.I. to get his point across.

"Aburame Shino, you're up first." Called Ibiki as the rather quiet and reserved bug-fanatic walked down the aisle towards the back room to perform the academy three jutsus.

Naruto, being the person he is, once again zoned out as he began to think about all of the trouble that he had learning the clone jutsu. Even now, he still was unable to perform the clone jutsu one-hundred percent of the time. About seventy-five percent of the time he was able to create a normal bunshin, but that last twenty-five percent always left a pale and useless clone of Naruto on the ground; regardless of how useless Naruto actually thought the bunshin no jutsu was compared to the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu, or any other style of clone out there. Unwilling to even consider taking the risk of using the normal bunshin no jutsu, Naruto decided then and there to use shadow clones as a replacement technique and as he came to this decision, he quietly remembered how it was that he came across that technique.

 _[Flashback: 6 Months Ago]_

 _Naruto had just gotten off of a grueling training session with Tenten and was currently walking back to his apartment on the other side of Konoha. As he was passing a training ground, he noticed a shinobi off in the distance that was training. Vying to get closer without being spotted, Naruto slowly crept forward to the edge of the clearing but before he could even get comfortable, the shinobi he was watching stiffened._

" _Come on out, I know you're there." Came the scruffy voice of the shinobi._

 _Naruto, knowing the jig was up came out of the bushes fully and walked up to the shinobi. Upon closer inspection, he realized that this 'shinobi' he was watching was actually a jounin of Konoha. The first thing he noticed was the trail of smoke coming from a cigarette hanging from the jounin's mouth. Finally deciding to take in the man's appearance, Naruto moved on from the dubbed 'cancer stick.' The man had spiky black hair that leaned just ever so slightly of which was propped up by his Konoha hitai-ate. He had a full on chin strap beard that seemed to be kept properly trimmed and groomed. For his attire he wore the classic blue long sleeved shirt, green flak jacket combo, but changed it up a little by taping both upper arms just underneath the red swirl on his shirt. He had his sleeves rolled up partially and wore a wristband on both arms. He was also wearing the standard issue shinobi pants, with the ankles tied off with tape however, this man added his own flair by having a cloth tied around his waist with the kanji for 'Fire' on it. Overall, Naruto definitely approved of the man's appearance._

" _What's this? A little shinobi in training attempting to spy on me?" the man sighed, "And the whole point of me coming this far out was so that this exact situation wouldn't happen." The jounin continued. Naruto's eyes widened slightly in realization._

" _Ano, gomenasai, Shinobi-san. I really was just walking back home from training when I noticed you and decided to watch to see if there was anything at all that I could learn from you." Naruto apologized to the man as the smoker narrowed his eyes at the boy._

" _Say, what's your name? I could've sworn I've seen you before." The jounin questioned Naruto._

" _Heh, Uzumaki Naruto, future hokage, dattebayo!" Naruto nearly stumbled over his words in his excitement to introduce himself._

" _Maelstrom, eh? Good name, powerful too. And you look like you don't slouch around when it comes to training either. Good on you, kid. The name's Asuma. Sarutobi Asuma." He replied._

 _Naruto's eyes lit up as he made the connection, "Oi! Are you related to Hokage-jiji by chance? I mean, you two do have the same last name." Naruto trailed off, suddenly unsure of what he was asking while Asuma chuckled._

" _Yeah, the hokage is my old man. Why does it matter, kid?"_

" _Because I'm the one who's gonna take the old man's hat! That's why!" Naruto shouted, "I'm going to be the greatest hokage there ever was, just watch!"_

" _Oh? So you're the one that my father has taken such an interest in? Alright, since you're here, why don't I give you a few tips to help further along your ninja career?" Asuma indulged the boy._

" _Uh, Asuma-san, can I actually ask a favor instead?" Naruto questioned nervously._

" _Hmm? Sure, why not. Shoot." Responded Asuma._

 _Naruto hung his head and shifted his feet nervously as he mumbled something Asuma couldn't quite pick up._

" _Huh? Speak up kid, you're talking to me, not the ground." Naruto shifted again but spoke up this time._

" _I was wondering if you could help me with my clone technique. I can't seem to make a proper clone no matter how hard I train or no matter how much chakra I'm putting into it." Naruto explained as he shied away expecting an immediate rejection._

" _Sure, I'll help. I've got time." Came Asuma's acceptance. Naruto's eyes widened._

" _Really?! For real? You'll help me?" Fired off Naruto, only to be hit on the head by a rather large fist._

" _Yes, but only if you can be patient. Now why don't you go ahead and try to perform the clone jutsu for me so I can see what exactly is going on." Requested Asuma._

" _Okay!" came Naruto's response as he held the ram sign. "Bunshin no Jutsu!"_

 _A dead looking clone popped up next to Naruto as Asuma's eye widened considerably._

' _Holy Kami! He put so much chakra into that I could almost see it pouring out of him! No wonder he can't perform the jutsu, he overloads it so much to the point where instead of it being a stronger version of the clone, it ends up making It even more useless than the jutsu already was!' Theorized Asuma. 'I can't believe something even popped up with how much chakra he used. This also means that he has no where near the amount of chakra control necessary to even remotely come close to performing such a basic technique." Asuma summarized._

" _Alright, forget about the clone jutsu for now. In my opinion, it's a useless jutsu that just gives the understanding of the knowledge behind more powerful versions of other clone variants." Asuma began._

" _But, if I don't get this down and forget about it, how can I pass the academy exams? I need it to pass, Asuma-san!" A frustrated Naruto began to pout._

" _Woah, relax kid. I'm not going to help you out with it because right now it is outside of your grasp to perform. Instead I'm going to give you a better clone variant that I think would suit your style more." Asuma quickly assuaged the frantic shinobi-in-training. "It's called the "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu."_

" _Shadow clone technique? Wow, that sounds awesome! Jiji better watch out cause I'm gonna take his hat sooner than he thinks!" Shouted Naruto, who at this point was nearly jumping around the clearing with how excited he was to learn a new technique as Asuma roared with laughter._

" _Settle down gaki." Asuma started as Naruto immediately stopped and began paying attention. "Alright, so the hand for the jutsu is this…"_

* * *

 _(2 Hours Later)_

 _Asuma stared at the young boy in disbelief. In just one measly hour, Naruto had managed to not only learn, but seemingly master the shadow clone technique, a B-rank technique. In an hour! But not only that, after learning that, Naruto immediately began working on it's A-rank counterpart, the Multi-Shadow Clone Technique or the Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu and had that down within the hour as well!_

' _Unbelievable. This kid just learned a B-rank and an A-rank jutsu in not just one day, but two hours, TWO! Although now, whenever he mentions his dream of Hokage, it doesn't really seem to be a child's dream anymore but a goal for him. I'm actually extremely curious to see just how far he can go.' Asuma thought to himself._

" _Alright, Naruto. You've got the jutsu down, now how about your get some real time experience with it? Let's have a spar so you can get used to using the technique at full speed combat!" Asuma challenged the young blond._

" _Heh, you asked for it, Asuma-sensei!" Yelled Naruto as he quickly created twenty clones who all unsheathed their twin chokuto and charged with a war cry._

' _Asuma-sensei, huh? Well, what do you know, I kind of like the sound of that.' Thought the Sarutobi as he pulled out his dual chakra blades and rushed in to meet the clones head on with a smirk on his face._

 _[Flashback End]_

Naruto proudly remembered that event as a thought quickly flitted through his mind. ' _I'm finally doing it, Jiji. It may be slow, but it's progress nonetheless. I'm slowly changing how the people of Konoha think of me.'_ Naruto beamed.

"Uzumaki Naruto!" With his spirits high, Naruto went to the back room and prepared to take the last step before becoming a full-fledged genin.

* * *

"Alright Uzumaki, front and center. I want the henge, followed by the kawarimi and finally the bunshin techniques. When you're ready." Ibiki ordered as Naruto smirked.

"Henge!" Came Naruto's cry and as the smoke cleared away, it revealed a perfect replica of Ibiki Morino himself.

"Impressive, I can't detect a flaw anywhere and it's my own body. Good work. Next!" Barked Ibiki.

Naruto quickly glanced around the room and found a chair to replace himself with, "Kawarimi no Jutsu!" Naruto cried out as he puffed away in a cloud of smoke revealing the chair he had looked at just previously and as Naruto appeared next to the desk where the chair used to be.

"Excellent, minimal chakra wasted. A good effort. Clone technique, begin!" Ibiki watched as Naruto made a very familiar hand sign but just before he could reach out and stop him, Naruto smirked.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Ten clones popped out of nothingness and all stood there looking smugly at the evaluator.

' _Just what the hell is this kid? He passed all of the exams with flying colors and then he just throws in a B-rank technique to boot? He's definitely going to go far.'_ Ibiki thought to himself while still floored by just how much talent this kid had. _'He's not even fucking winded?!'_ Questioned Ibiki to himself before he shook himself out of his stupor.

"Congrats, gaki! You're an official genin level ninja of Konohagakure. You've earned your headband. Come and get it." Praised Ibiki as he realized just how little amount of praise he normally ever gave out.

"YATTA!" Came the excited voice of one Uzumaki Naruto.

' _Then again, he still is just a kid.'_ Ibiki bemused.

* * *

 **Hope you enjoyed that chapter! I really thought it would be interesting to have a no nonsense shinobi like Ibiki proctor the academy exams and give the students a small taste of the real world. Anyway, I would love to see some reviews, just anything that you would like to point out to me, or any suggestions you could make to help make my writing style even better! Thanks guys, until next time!**

 **Ja ne!**


	4. Chapter 4: A True Friend

**Hey guys! Firestr2 back here with the latest installment of _Exceeding Expectations_. I'm sorry it took so long to update this, but I really had to think about how I wanted this to pan out. I had the idea in my head, but couldn't really put it into words, so I had to rewrite it a couple times to get it correct. Anyway, I think I'm going to assign a day of the week where I update, so it's not as sporadic as these last few chapters have been; it will be every Sunday or so, that way I have enough time to go over what I write and make sure it's good enough for you guys! Enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 4: A True Friend

Naruto, after leaving the academy, decided to head to his favorite hangout place to spread the good news of his promotion to genin. As he was walking down the street, he noticed a very familiar, two bun, and brown haired girl walking in his direction.

"Ten-chan, hey! How's it going?" Piped Naruto, his excitement at passing the academy exams nearly palpable. Apparently, it was so infectious that Tenten clearly had no choice but to perk up at the sight of her favorite resident blond.

"Hey, Naruto! I'm well, but a little ragged from what Gai-sensei likes to call a warm-up and training. But regardless, how are you?" Naruto smirked and then struck a pose flashing his most 'dashing' smile.

Tenten blushed at the sight, "Well? What is it?"

"I passed the exams! Look, I've got my hitai-ate and everything now, I'm an official ninja of Konohagakure finally!" Naruto nearly shouted. "But right now, I've got to get to Ichiraku Ramen so I can spread the good news! Want to come with me? We can train again like we usually do afterwards." Offered Naruto.

"Tsk. I wish I could go with you, but my break is nearly over, and I need to get back to my team to finish up whatever mission we were going to take. Hopefully it isn't a difficult one, I don't think I could take a strenuous mission right now." Tenten rejected Naruto's question. Naruto looked slightly saddened at this and Tenten definitely noticed as it was so obvious to see his emotions through his eyes, so she added, "Well, actually maybe I can meet up with you after you're done eating at Ichiraku's and we can have a light spar then? How does that sound to you?"

The result was instantaneous, Naruto perked up so quickly that Tenten thought that Naruto might have faked his sadness, but then thought about it and shook her head at such a nonsensical notion. "Oh yeah! That sounds great! I'll be waiting at training ground 23 after I'm done eating whenever you're ready to spar with me! Thanks, Ten-chan! You're a really awesome person, dattebayo!"

Naruto, being the oblivious person he was, completely missed the light blush the adorned Tenten's face at the compliment but could have sworn he felt like killing intent coming from somewhere that he couldn't pinpoint, but just as soon as he felt it, it vanished. Curious. He shrugged it off as part of his imagination and turned around to continue towards his favorite ramen shop.

As Tenten watched Naruto walk away, a thought suddenly struck her.

' _Oh god, he's younger than me! How did I not notice that?!'_

 _Five minutes later…_

Naruto walked in through the banners that covered the front of Ichiraku Ramen and immediately took the stool in the center of the counter, which had pretty much been dubbed as his seat, considering how often he ate there. Every day. As he sat down, he called out, "Oi, Old man Teuchi! One bowl of miso ramen, followed by a pork bowl, and then I'll decide from there!"

Teuchi Ichiraku, a kindly, old man and owner of said ramen bar, poked his head out from inside the kitchen.

"Ah, Naruto, welcome back! One miso and one pork ramen coming right up!"

As Teuchi got to work on making his famed ramen for his most profita— er, favorite customer, his daughter, Ayame, came around the corner and spotted her favorite, surrogate little brother.

"Naruto-kun! How are you? How did the exams go?" Ayame asked pointedly, somehow knowing that Naruto couldn't wait to get the news off of his chest.

"Great! Ibiki-san said that I passed all of the tests and that I really earned my hitai-ate!" Exclaimed Naruto, throwing his hands around the air to really give his words the right meaning of how big of an event this was to Naruto. He was already holding a pair of chopsticks in anticipation of his impending ramen. Ayame squealed and leaned over the counter to give Naruto a massive hug.

"Ayame-neechan quit it! You know I hate this cuddly stuff!" Naruto whined dispassionately as Ayame stepped back and pouted.

"I know, I know, but how can I not when I'm just so excited for my favorite person ever!" Naruto chuckled in an embarrassed fashion as he rubbed the back of his head.

"Hehe, thanks Ayame-nee. I really appreciate that." Naruto finished as the atmosphere of the ramen bar settled down.

"Order up!" Teuchi's voice rang throughout the small restaurant as he brought out the miso and pork ramen, respectively.

"Yosh! Arigato, Teuchi-jiji. I really appreciate this!" Naruto gratefully accepted the ramen and performed the customary "Itadakimasu!" before immediately digging in to what could be considered one of Naruto's few weaknesses.

"Don't worry about it, Naruto. In fact, based on what I heard from your conversation with my daughter earlier, consider your first ten bowls to be on the house today! Congratulations on passing the academy exams. You look like a proper ninja with that headband now, and I know that you'll only get stronger as time passes! Of course, I also want to serve the only hokage in the village with a ramen addiction!" Laughed Teuchi as he winked at Naruto. Naruto's eyes widened as he heard those words and tears of happiness started to pool in the corner of his eyes.

"Arigato, Teuchi-oji," Naruto said softly as he wiped his eyes with his sleeve while also perking up, "Of course I'll be hokage one day and I tell you, the first meal I ever have when I become fire shadow will be ramen from Ichiraku Ramen, dattebayo!" Teuchi chuckled as he walked back to his station in the kitchen only pausing long enough to turn back to Naruto to mention a few words.

"I look forward to it, Naruto."

* * *

About an hour later, Naruto had finally filled up on his ramen fix and was currently making his way towards training ground 23 just as he had promised Tenten. It took him about ten minutes to make his way to the training ground as it was almost halfway across the village and a little ways away from the wall of Konoha. When he got there, he noticed that Tenten was already there, practicing her katas with what seemed to be any kind of weapon that she could touch, considering the tree that she was next to had a large assortment of weapons leaning against it. Naruto quickened his pace in anticipation, wanting to get to the spar as soon as possible.

"Hey, Ten-chan! I didn't expect you to be here so soon! I thought you would take another break after your mission to regain some of your energy for our spar?" Inquired Naruto. Tenten smirked.

"Yeah? And why would I need to regain my energy when I could put down a rookie genin such as yourself with ease?" She teased, making the blond develop a tick mark above the eyebrow.

"Oi! You'll resent that when it comes to our spar, believe it!" Quipped Naruto angrily. Tenten held up her hands in defeat towards the emotional genin.

"Calm down, Naruto. I was only kidding. Why don't you start warming up with some katas and some stretching while I watch over you and help you correct any mistakes in your stances?" Naruto immediately backed off, feeling foolish for letting such a comment get to his head.

' _And here I was punishing Sakura earlier today for just for being loud, it looks like I still have some work to do on controlling my emotions as well.'_ Naruto thought to himself.

"Alright, I'll get right to that," agreed Naruto as he pulled out his twin chokuto and began to weave through his stances trying to be as fluid as possible. After about a half hour of going through his katas and having Tenten preside over his technique, an idea struck Tenten.

 _'Hmm, over the past year of sparring with Naruto, every time he uses his shadow clones, he always seems to be more prepared for anything as the battle goes on.'_

"Hey Naruto, can you make one shadow clone for me?" Tenten asked. Complying, Naruto brought his hands together in the normal cross shaped hand sign and called forth a shadow clone.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu." Tenten stepped forward and addressed both original and clone Naruto.

"Alright so here's my idea. You know what the basic katas for your chokuto should be, right?" Both Narutos nodded, "Good. Basically, my idea is for you to go attack your clone, without maiming it, else it dispel, and because it has the same skill level as you and same knowledge as you, you can watch your clone's stances and correct them as needed. This way you can get immediate feedback because of the information transfer that Asuma-san told about, no? And then later, when the clone dispels, you'll have not only your perspective of fixing the stances, but also the clone's perspective of going through the stances while adjusting them. After enough practice and after you have the katas down perfectly, then you can also start experimenting with attack strategies and what would work best for you. And of course when you're with me, you'll have my input as well." Tenten elaborated on her idea as Naruto gave a wicked grin in response.

"So what you're saying is that I'll be able to work on attacking and defending at the same time while also perfecting my form? Awesome! Let's get to work then!" Naruto squared off with his clone before lunging in with a overhead strike as his clone fell into the proper form for the overhead block and counter. Both clone and original having wide grins on their faces as they corrected each other and repeated the process, with Tenten occasionally stepping in.

* * *

About an hour later, Tenten was feeling as well rested as she needed to be for this light spar and pointed out to Naruto that she was ready.

"Hey Naruto, give it a rest already, I think it's time we had that spar now! Tenten shouted over the sounds of clashing swords. She blinked as she realized that the clearing was now full of clones that had paired off and were doing the same activity that Tenten had explained just earlier and wondered to herself just how she had managed to miss seeing Naruto using that many clones without her noticing.

' _What the hell?! When did he make so many clones? Ugh, that is just so unfair. With the way he can spout off shadow clones, he can do what would take a normal shinobi decades to learn something in mere days! How can anyone compete with that?'_ Tenten grumbled to herself about baka blonds and having seemingly unlimited amounts of chakra to throw left and right.

In one long, drawn out poof, all the clones dispelled leading to Naruto grabbing his head in pain, due to the massive influx of shadow clone memories he received and due to trying to sort out all of the information he had just acquired. After several minutes of going through his memories, Naruto stood up and jogged over to Tenten looking much more confident in his abilities with his twin chokuto.

"Okay, let's do this! I've still got daylight to burn!" Naruto said as he got into his basic fighting stance. Tenten, seeing the gleam in his eye from his newfound confidence in his swordplay, quickly fell back into her own stance as a six foot spear appeared in her hands. Confused, Naruto stood back up from his stance and asked.

"You're not going to have a duel with me, sword to sword?" Tenten stood up and merely shook her head in denial.

"No, Naruto, I'm not. As a shinobi, you can't always expect to go against the same kind of enemy using the same style. This way, you get experience using your swords in a ton of different, controlled scenarios while at the same time, I have a sparring partner where I can really buckle down and focus on all kinds of weapons and how to use them effectively against a weapon user who has two weapons to attack with," Tenten explained as Naruto nodded and fell back into his stance. After a few seconds, Naruto's face scrunched up in concentration as Tenten prepared to face her opponent.

"So what are the rules?" Naruto abruptly asked. Tenten face planted in the dirt, not expecting the question and relieving the tension stored up in her body before answering in a rather annoyed fashion.

"Naruto! It's the same rules every time, do everything you can to defeat your opponent with your respective weapons, no chakra enhancing, no nin or genjutsu, and no kill shots!" Tenten huffed before getting back into her stance willing for the spar to begin already.

"Okay, just making sure." Responded Naruto rather cheekily as he grinned at his friend and settled into his sword stance again. Both shinobi began to eye each other as they looked over the other's body for signs of weakness or any openings in their defense. Suddenly, Naruto spotted it. Tenten's left flank seemed to be a little weaker due to her placing more weight on her right side. He noticed how Tenten's spear almost reflexively seemed to cover that area the best. Realizing that this could simply be a diversion so that Tenten could take advantage of his misplaced attention, Naruto charged in and decided to be a little more on the cautious side so as not to be side swiped by her deadly, sharpened spear without even noticing it.

Tenten immediately fell on the defensive as Naruto charged in, instantly falling to her back foot to better support her full body weight as she shifted the spear in front of her so that the front was facing right towards Naruto. As Naruto neared her, she thrusted outwards with her spear planning ahead for any type of dodge. Naruto, seeing her maneuver, managed to get out of the way but quickly realized his mistake when the spear suddenly trailed a long arc as its razor sharp edge raced towards him. Quick as his reflexes would allow, Naruto parried the spear swipe and brought his second chokuto around for a low to high strike hoping to catch Tenten off balance after her initial feint and strike failed. It didn't.

Tenten, now on the defensive, leapt back so as to keep Naruto outside of her guard. It wouldn't do her any good to have a weapon that was longer than her counterpart's only to have him slip inside her spear's effective range. After regaining her bearings and planning another set of attacks, she quickly dashed back in, preparing another side swipe. Naruto smirked confidently as he already knew how to counter this form of attack, but just as he was about to parry her attack away, Tenten's eyes gleamed mischievously and lightning-fast, she performed a feint and spun the shaft of the spear and nailed Naruto right in the diaphragm with the butt end of the spear. Naruto, who had just lost quite a bit of air, now struggled to defend himself against the onslaught of spear attacks, but after finding a brief opening, was able to jump away and regain his breath.

"Don't get too confident, Naruto!" Tenten taunted Naruto, "Just because you have shadow clone training to fall back onto, doesn't mean that you'll be good enough to beat me after one day! You're still way too far behind me skill wise to have a chance at beating me!" Tenten quipped confidently, somehow forgetting the fact that she would clearly be in quite the amount of trouble had Naruto been able to use his shadow clones.

"Ha! Give me a couple more days and I'll be able to kick your ass around no problem, believe it!" The blond genin retorted right back to the bun haired girl as he quickly came up with another plan. Naruto, once again initiated the fight, seeing as he had the shorter of the two styles of weaponry and had to get in close to even have a chance. As Naruto approached, Tenten dug in her heels in preparation of the impending strike knowing that Naruto naturally had more physical strength than her while she had a wider range of motion due to her natural flexibility, and she planned to use that to the fullest extent.

Naruto decided to put his plan into action right as he reached the tip of Tenten's spear. In a show of impressive flexibility, Naruto very narrowly dodged the tip of the spear by swaying his head out of the way, the spearhead seemingly passing by in slow motion. With a quick swipe up with his left sword, Naruto removed the spear from play and dodged the butt end of the spear before it could make contact. Just as Tenten was preparing to dodge Naruto's sword strike, she was suddenly put on her heels by Naruto dropping to the ground and planting one of his hands as a pivot point, using his now free leg to kick Tenten skywards, right where her left flank was weak. Naruto then used this massive opening to rap the flat end of his chokuto against Tenten's side which surely would have gone through to the kidney, signaling a killing blow as Tenten descended back towards the ground, landing a little less than gracefully. Naruto, knowing he had won this round, stepped back and with an impressive flair of his swords, sheathed his two blades seamlessly.

"I wish you had told me that you were not at one-hundred percent, Ten-chan." Naruto pointed out as Tenten sighed.

"I know, but I knew that if you had known, then you would not have treated this spar as seriously out of fear of hurting me." Tenten replied with her head down shamefully. However, Naruto would have none of this and stepped forward, placing a finger under her chin and lifting her head up to look at him.

"Chin up, Ten-chan. I won't have my friend wallowing if I'm there and can make a difference." Joked Naruto as Tenten blushed furiously before backing up, stuttering.

"I-I was NOT w-wallowing," Tenten stumbled over her words, thinking about just how close they were in proximity only seconds prior. Naruto tsk'd and asked.

"Hmm? Oh well, what were you doing then, Ten-chan?" He asked as Tenten breathed a sigh of relief, not that Naruto heard… or cared, realizing that her traumatizing moment was over and that the subject of converstation was finally moving somewhere else.

"Well…" Tenten glanced around trying to find a viable excuse, "I was actually looking down to make sure that my side was okay, it's kind of hurting you know from training earlier with my team and from that kick you put on me," Tenten winced at the fake sounding reply but apparently it worked well enough for Naruto to immediately become concerned and went into what Tenten liked to call his 'doctor' mode, not that Tenten ever fantasized about that. *cough* *cough*

"Oh man, I am so sorry," Naruto apologized sincerely, "I wasn't sure if you were trying to catch me off guard by making me think you had an injury or not and end up winning the spar, so when I kicked you, I didn't really hold anything back!" Naruto fretted over Tenten showing no signs of stopping when he began to poke and prod Tenten's side trying to discern whether or not she was going to survive. Tenten, despite her throbbing side, couldn't help but giggle at his concern, and the fact that she was ticklish there.

"Naruto, s-stop. You're tickling me and it hurts to laugh." That did the trick as Naruto's hand immediately left Tenten's side, almost too quickly if Tenten was being honest, but before she could say anything else, Naruto swept her up into her arms earning a shriek of surprise from the poor girl.

"N-Naruto, what are you doing?! Put me down!" Cried Tenten. Naruto shook his head.

"No can do, Ten-chan. I can't leave a friend behind, besides, you don't weigh that much, I can carry you to the hospital no problem. It's also getting late, so we should probably hurry if we don't want the hospital to close before you can get treated." Naruto added as he glanced at the horizon and noticed that the sun was already to the point where the moon and stars were visible. Fortunately, it was just dark enough that Tenten's furious blush was able to be hidden from Naruto's prying… deep blue, eyes.

' _Stop it, Tenten! There's no way he's interested in you, he's only doing it out of concern for his own actions.'_ Tenten thought to herself trying to distance herself from the alluring blond emotionally as the pair kept walking away from the clearing.

* * *

As Naruto and Tenten were approaching the walls of Konoha, Naruto paused for a second and looked around making Tenten wonder what was going on through his head.

"What's wrong, Naruto?" Came Tenten's question. Naruto shook his head as if trying to clear some thought.

"I'm not entirely sure, but something feels off right now. I mean, it has been way too quiet for the past five minutes." Naruto observed, but Tenten feeling as though she should try to put his thoughts at ease added.

"Well, I mean, it is just the two of us out here and we haven't really been talking all that much," Tenten supplied earning her a look from Naruto.

"I understand that, and yet, here we are in the middle of the forest and I can't hear a single animal or any type of insect, why is that?" Naruto suddenly heard a noise coming from a little deeper in the woods.

"Tenten," Naruto said seriously, "I'm going to have a shadow clone take you to the hospital while I go check this out," he supplied as he placed Tenten down and brought his hands together in his familiar cross shaped seal. A second later, a shadow clone popped up from nothingness and walked over to Tenten to pick her back up, but Tenten would have none of this.

"What? Hell no, I'm coming with you! There's no way I'd let you go alone if there is actually a threat to the village out there," Tenten argued however, Naruto shook his head disapprovingly.

"As much as I would love for you to be my backup, you're in no shape to be in a prolonged fight and I'm not strong enough yet to protect you and fight off a potential enemy," Naruto supplied before signaling to his shadow clone to get moving as he dashed off into the trees.

Seeing that she was getting nowhere with the original, Tenten turned her attention to the clone Naruto.

"Please, Naruto-kun, don't do this to me. I couldn't bear the thought of you getting hurt simply because you wouldn't allow me to help," she begged as the clone tried and failed to ignore the plea.

"I-I don't know if we should, I mean, like the boss said, you're hurt and he—we, would hate to see you come to further injury because we couldn't protect you." Came the clone's sorrowful reply.

"Don't worry! I won't even get into the fight if there is one, I promise! You know how good my aim is! I don't miss, I'll sit back at a longer range and help him from afar," Tenten argued her case well as the Naruto clone slowly felt his resolve crumbling around him.

"Alright, but only if you stay out of the fight and help from range, got it? I'll be next to you the entire time to provide any kind of backup I possibly can before I dispel." Came the final acceptance of Tenten's terms.

* * *

Naruto was currently running through the forests trying to locate the area where he felt was 'off' as he had so eloquently put earlier. He actually didn't really understand why he felt that something bad was happening, but he could feel it in his gut, and his experiences always seemed to point towards trusting his instincts. It was almost as if he had something in the back of his mind telling him where people were going to be based on their emotions, usually negative ones. It had kept him alive when he was younger, so he most certainly was not going to ignore it now.

"Why do I always seem to go towards trouble? Why can't I, for once, be the guy who avoids it?" Naruto questioned himself before dropping into a clearing that he could've sworn was the location where he felt the negative emotion. Luckily, the person he spotted in the clearing was so focused on whatever it was he was doing that he hadn't sensed Naruto yet.

"Oi! What's going on here? What are you doing?" Naruto called out to the silhouette of a man, distinctly noticing that the person he called out to flinched and then cursed before scrambling to pull out a kunai, whirling around to face whoever had confronted him.

"I didn't do anythi—Eh? Naruto? Is that you?" Came the man's confused response before stepping forward enough for Naruto to recognize him.

"Mizuki-sensei? What brings you out here? It's late out, shouldn't you be at the event that Ibiki-san mentioned?" Naruto shuffled his weight uncomfortably trying to piece together what was going on at the moment.

' _Oh, what a coincidence! Not only have I successfully gotten away with the Forbidden Scroll of Sealing with apparently no one noticing, but I also have the perfect chance to kill the demon-brat!_ Mizuki chuckled darkly to himself.

"Oh, this is PERFECT!" Mizuki screamed to the heavens, "I can't believe that Kami himself would deliver such a gift to me!" He continued with an insane gleam in his eye. Naruto, noticing the man's bloodlust unconsciously took a step back, eyes wide and waiting for anything to happen.

"Mizuki-sensei, what's going on? Why are you behaving this way?" Mizuki's began laughing as it slowly raised in pitch and volume until it became a full cackle.

"DON'T YOU GET IT? THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR," Mizuki roared at Naruto, "Haven't you ever wondered why exactly you receive those hateful glares? Why everyone seems to ignore your existence or outright loathe it?" Naruto's eyes widened.

"It is because you are—," Naruto's eyes focused in on Mizuki's mouth but he couldn't make out the words that Mizuki was saying.

' _False Surrounding Jutsu complete'_ Iruka sighed to himself as he averted the spilling of an 'S-ranked' secret. Donning his ANBU dolphin mask, he performed the shunshin and vanished only to reappear behind Mizuki with his tanto piercing Mizuki's heart.

"You should have never gone against the reign of the hokage, nor should you have tried to defy and obtain that which you cannot have." Iruka whispered into Mizuki's ear as the former teaching assistant's eyes widened before blood shot out of his mouth in a violent cough.

"No… this wasn't how it was supposed to happen," came Mizuki's strangled reply, "All I wanted was the power to prove that I was more than what everyone viewed me as. The scroll was going to provide me with that power before I gave… gave it to…" Mizuki mouthed the final word but Iruka was unable to discern his meaning before his previous best friend took his last breath and passed on into the void. Iruka withdrew his blade and sheathed it as Mizuki collapsed to the floor. After sealing away the Forbidden Scroll of Sealing and bending down to pick Mizuki up, Dolphin turned to Naruto and released the genjutsu. Naruto blinked in surprise at what had suddenly changed in the clearing. One second, he was about to hear what could be considered the truth behind his suffering and then the next, Mizuki was slumped over the shoulder of a certain Dolphin ANBU.

"Uzumaki-san, the Hokage requests your presence immediately." Came the authoritative voice of the ANBU member. Naruto's eyes widened.

' _Is that Iruka-sensei? I swear I recognize that voice after six long years of hearing it, there's no one else it could possibly be.'_ Came Naruto's internal voice as he pondered over the situation. _'If he's an ANBU member under Jiji's employment, that means that he can be trusted, I guess.'_ Naruto finished as he began walking towards the ANBU agent.

* * *

Tenten's eyes widened considerably in surprise. When she followed after Naruto to help, this was not what she expected; not at all. To learn Naruto's deepest secret when even he didn't know the truth seemed so unfair to her. She knew in her heart of hearts that if she were the jinchuuriki of the Nine-tailed Demon Fox, she would most certainly want to know the truth, regardless of how she reacted, just so she could have some form of closure.

Tenten turned to her companion, whose eyes were wide in fear, and spoke to the clone.

"Go ahead and dispel yourself, there was a genjutsu placed on the original and he did not hear the truth however, you did. If you dispel now, he will know the truth before confronting the Hokage. He deserves to know." Tenten advised before the clone nodded in understanding. In a poof the clone disappeared in a puff of smoke.

* * *

Naruto froze about five feet from the ANBU agent. He quickly filtered through the memories that he had received. Realizing the urgency of the situation he began to back away from the ANBU.

' _I'm the Kyuubi no Kitsune? That's why everyone hates me? There's no way that could be true. The Fourth Hokage killed it! That's what we were always taught in the academy.'_ Naruto panicked to himself.

"Is there something wrong, Uzumaki-san?" Came the wondrous reply from Dolphin.

"How many knew?" Naruto's voice quietly rang out in the silent area surrounding the two.

"Excuse me? I'm not sure I know what—"

"HOW MANY!" Shouted an enraged Naruto. "How many knew that I contained the Nine-tailed Demon fox?" he continued.

' _Impossible, there's no way he could have figured out that piece of information! My genjutsu would've prevented that! I didn't sense it being broken, so how would he have gained that information?!'_

"Naruto—," Iruka began.

"I-I don't want to hear it right now. I need some time to think." And with that Naruto turned the other way and fled, using all of his strength and speed to get away from the area. Iruka, in a state of panic, quickly followed the boy.

After the clearing was empty, Tenten dropped down from her hiding place, concern clearly etched upon her face.

"Naruto… I don't believe that you're the Kyuubi. After all, a kunai sealed in a scroll does not make the scroll the weapon." Tenten muttered to herself in sorrow, clearly pulling from her own experiences with sealing.

"I… I don't know how you have managed to keep all of your emotions inside, not effecting your daily life, but I will always be here for you as a friend. To support you. Because that is exactly what you would do for me, were I in the same situation." With her resolve clear, Tenten leapt into the trees as fast as her injuries would allow her.

* * *

Naruto had no idea how far he had run nor how much time had passed before he collapsed, weeping to himself terribly.

' _Why? Why would this terrible burden be placed on me? Am I really the demon that everyone believes me to be? I-I have no idea how to go on after information like that!'_ Naruto cried to himself terribly.

Just as he was finishing up his thoughts, Iruka jumped to the ground having found Naruto.

"Naruto, don't run away from this! Tell me what is on your mind." He began, trying to reach the boy.

"What's on my mind?! You want to know what's on my mind!? Why don't you take a guess? I'm the fucking Kyuubi no Kitsune! How would you take that kind of information after a life of obliviousness being on the receiving end of hateful glares?" Naruto ranted more to himself than the ANBU agent in front of him.

In shock at the boy's furious response, Iruka made a decision and took off his mask.

' _Hokage-sama will certainly have my ass for this kind of misconduct, but I must do this for Naruto's sake'_ Iruka thought to himself as he prepared to console the boy.

"Naruto," Iruka began as Naruto looked up and felt a small sense of satisfaction that he had been right about the identity of the ANBU member, "you are NOT the Kyuubi no Kitsune. If you were, would you be able to feel these types of emotions right now? Would you feel any kind of sorrow at your life for how it has panned out? No! However, one thing you are, you are one of my precious students, and I will grin and bear any hardship you must carry because as your instructor, I have come to care for you after all these years of teaching you, and it is my duty to protect those I care about." Naruto looked up in shock.

"You, you care about me?" Naruto began, "But, why?"

"Because we are a lot more alike than you would think, both of us had rough lives, both of our parents were killed off during the Kyuubi attack, leaving us orphans, and both of us were ignored because of our orphan status. I can relate to you and the loneliness you went through. A-and I refuse to let someone else I care about go through that same fate when I can do something to change it." Iruka finished with serious emotion in his voice as Naruto looked on with tears in his eyes.

"Heh, only someone like you could say something like that to calm me down, neh, Iruka-sensei?" Naruto added happy that he had someone else to add to his list of precious people.

"Yeah, well anyway, it's time that we go see Hokage-sama now. Will you come along now?" Iruka asked.

"Sure thi—" Naruto started to respond but was cut off by a familiar voice.

"NARUTO!" Tenten dropped down into the clearing, clutching her side as she nearly collapsed from exhaustion.

"I finally caught up. How could you just run off like that? Didn't you get the memories from your clone that I was there, waiting for you?" Tenten began.

"Ten-chan, I'm sorry, there was just so much going on all at once that I freaked out and I thought you wouldn't accept me for who I really was." Naruto apologized.

SLAP

Naruto held his face in shock as he looked at his friend. He was trying to understand what had happened when Tenten spoke up.

"Do you really think me to be so shallow that I cannot tell the difference between a kunai and a scroll? You know of my interest in sealing, Naruto! There's no way you could be that demon! Everything they say about you is wrong, so don't you dare give up! I don't think I could go on if I saw you give up when you always pour your heart and soul into everything that you do!" Tenten stopped to take a deep breath when she was cut off by Naruto pulling her into a tight hug.

"Domo arigato, Ten-chan. Arigato. Arigato." Naruto repeated into Tenten's shoulder as he tried but failed to hold back tears as someone else showed their true colors to him.

"Ehem, well, I don't mean to interrupt, but we should probably get to Hokage-sama. Oh, you're coming to Tenten because you're a witness, okay?" Iruka asked the pair.

"Got it." Both replied as they walked over to the teacher who grabbed both of their hands with one hand before vanishing in a shunshin to the hokage's office.

* * *

 _Hokage's Office_

Iruka, Naruto, and Tenten all appeared in a flurry of leaves in the Hokage's office only to see a stern looking Hiruzen looking at all three expectantly. Iruka cleared his throat and prepared to speak.

"Hokage-sama, the mission to expose of the missing-nin Mizuki and recovery the Forbidden Scroll of Sealing is complete. On another note, I would not have been able to complete the mission as easily as I had if it were not for Naruto Uzumaki distracting Mizuki to such a degree."

Hiruzen hmm'd as Iruka continued, "Upon arriving to the scene where Mizuki and Naruto were, Mizuki was currently revealing a certain 'S-ranked' secret to Naruto here." As Iruka explained this, Sarutobi's eyes widened considerably as he realized the implications.

"Despite my attempts to stop Mizuki from telling the secret, Naruto here found out as well as Higurashi-san here." Iruka continued causing the pipe in HIruzen's mouth to comically plop out of his mouth on to the ground. The Sandaime Hokage grumbled under his breath about traitors while bending down to pick his pipe back up and laying it onto the desk in front of him.

"Is that all, Iruka-kun?" Hiruzen questioned.

"Hai that is all, Sandaime-sama." Iruka finished. The oldest hokage turned to the younger pair of the trio.

"So, both of you are aware of your status, Naruto-kun, Tenten-chan?" Both children nodded. But another thought flitted through Naruto's mind.

' _Jiji… you lied to me. You knew all along the true reason why I was hated by everyone.'_

"How could you, Jiji? How could you lie to me? When you knew all along the real reason." Naruto asked quietly with his head hanging, hair covering his eyes. Hiruzen's own eyes seemed to become clouded with regret.

"I wanted to tell you, Naruto-kun. So badly. Every time you asked, I felt my own resolve breaking. But I have to let you know, that I was going to tell you as soon as you became a full genin of Konohagakure. I just had to make sure that you were prepared enough for that kind of knowledge. Please forgive me for the pain that I have caused you." Hiruzen apologized, clearly in agony over the pain he had caused his surrogate grandson. Naruto listened to all of this but managed to pick out one detail.

"Wait, full genin? What do you mean, Jiji?" Naruto asked expectantly. Hiruzen coughed realizing that he had revealed something that only Jounin-sensei were supposed to reveal.

"Well, you're not supposed to know until the day of team assignments, but I suppose that I can tell you and since Tenten-chan here already knows, I won't be revealing it to anyone else. However, you are not allowed to inform any other person before their own test." Hiruzen explained, not really in the mood to hold more secrets from the boy.

"Basically, the academy exam is just to determine who is actually eligible to be genin. However, your own Jounin-sensei will determine whether or not you're cut out to be genin. He or she will do this through a test of their own volition and that determines whether you be put onto a team or put into the shinobi reserves." Naruto's eyes flew open at the new information. But they quickly closed in concentration.

"So I'm not actually a genin yet, huh? No matter, I will just work harder this week to get stronger so I can prove that I am worthy of the title." Sarutobi looked at Naruto proudly as he thought of just how much Naruto had matured from the young child he used to be, always spouting about how he was going to be hokage someday.

"Well, it has been a long night and you, Tenten and Naruto, have both helped in apprehending a traitor to our village. Because of this, I will be placing a completed 'B-ranked' mission on both of your resumes, however, the details of this mission will be placed as a village secret and will be confidential for everyone except my eyes." Hiruzen rewarded the two, whose eyes were gleaming in excitement. "Unfortunately, because this will be an off record mission, I cannot pay you for it. Instead, I think I can come up with another reward. In this scroll there are many different, powerful jutsu, but I think that you both are ready for this." He unraveled the scroll and quickly copied down the contents before closing the scroll again and sealing it within a smaller scroll and placing it inside of his robes.

"As payment and as thanks for the completed mission, I have decided to award you both with this jutsu. It is called the Kunai Kage Bunshin no Jutsu and the Shuriken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu. The theory behind this jutsu is that you can throw one kunai or shuriken and by using the seals included and the appropriate amount of chakra, one can multiply the amount of kunai in the air indefinitely based on the amount of chakra placed in the jutsu." The Hokage explained. "Furthermore, this is one of my favorite jutsus, passed down from my sensei, Tobirama Senju, before he became the Nidaime Hokage." The old man finished as he handed the scroll off to Tenten and Naruto.

"I have chosen this as payment because as an aspiring weapons mistress, Tenten, these two jutsu will be invaluable to you and I believe that it will certainly save you from having to pick up so many weapons at the end of a battle." The Hokage joked lightly, getting a smile from the young girl. Hiruzen turned to Naruto.

"Naruto-kun, I have also decided to give these jutsu to you as well because with your chakra capacity, it is truly a scary thought to wonder what you could do with it. In my opinion, if you put in even a tenth of your chakra levels into the technique, you could block out the sun with a wave of kunai or shuriken. A deadly technique for you indeed." Hiruzen finished as he stood up.

"Thank you, Hokage-sama/Jiji" Came the simultaneous replies from the duo recipients. Hiruzen stretched his back from sitting down for so long.

"Well, I would say that it's been a really long night, neh?" Hiruzen supplied, "Anyway, I believe we should call it a night and you, Naruto and Tenten, can begin working on that jutsu." He finished and with a wave of his hand, dismissed the pair. After Naruto and Tenten left the room, Hiruzen turned to Iruka.

"So, Iruka. What is this about you revealing yourself as an ANBU agent in front of not one, but two people outside of the organization? I wonder what will have to be done in response to such blatant disorderly conduct." Iruka chuckled nervously and rubbed the back of his neck as he felt a spike of killing intent from the powerful Kami no Shinobi in front of him.

* * *

Naruto and Tenten were walking down the street together, both silent as they pondered over what had occurred that night up to this point. As they came to a crossroad where they would have to split off, Tenten turned to Naruto.

"Well, this is where we go our separate ways, huh? Want to meet up tomorrow to start practicing these two new jutsu?" She asked her blond companion.

"Huh? Oh… yeah, sure thing. Sorry, I was just thinking about what happened tonight and everything else. So same time tomorrow?" He asked tentatively.

"Yeah, let's do that. Goodnight, Naruto." Tenten turned around and started walking away from the only boy in the village who seemed to be able to confuse her more than anything.

"Tenten!" Said girl turned around.

"I… thank you. For everything tonight. I really appreciated it. I'm glad to call you my friend." Naruto stammered, not entirely comfortable with sharing his feelings after so long of not having anyone to share his feelings with. Turning around, Naruto started walking off into the distance, unaware of the blush that now adorned Tenten's face.

' _I'm glad to be able to call you a true friend, too. Naruto.'_ Tenten thought to herself as she watched Naruto fade into the shadows of the village before turning and heading home herself.

* * *

 **And fin! Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, there was a little more interaction between Naruto and Tenten and now she is the most knowledgeable genin in the village. More on this further down the road as they develop their relationship, so look forward to it. Next up is the week of training prior to team assignments, genin requests from the jounin-sensei, and team placements themselves. Please read and review, guys. Thanks and until next time. Ja ne!**


	5. Chapter 5: Stronger than the Day Before

**Hey guys, Firestr2 back with another installment of _Exceeding Expectations_. Woo! Anyway, I'm a little behind on getting this chapter in on Sunday because I had a massive thunderstorm where I live and it cut off my power which turned off my internet signal. I'm uploading this as soon as possible before anything happens, so here you go! It's a little shorter of a chapter, about 5,000 words, but after this, the story should be getting to the better stuff! Enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 5: Stronger than the Day Before

Naruto woke up around 6 am in the morning the next day as he did not have a restful night at all. The entire time, he could only think of how he was the container for the nine-tailed fox and how he could finally understand why the villagers hate him. It actually brought a certain amount of peace to him to know the true reason behind the villager's hatred, and yet, at the same time, he scoffed at the ignorance of the populace for not taking the time to understand the truth behind sealing and how the people of Konoha could just spit upon their greatest hero's foremost skill, sealing. It baffled Naruto that they could revere the Yondaime Hokage for having the Hiraishin no Jutsu, which revolved around sealing, and was possibly the most complicated seal ever produced, and yet they failed to understand just how great the containment eight trigrams seal was that was placed on Naruto's navel.

After a long time just lying there, thinking about the implications of all of this, Naruto happened to glance over at the clock for it to show 9:30 am. He shook his head, wondering where the time possibly could have gone, but rather forced himself out of bed, knowing that he was already late on the day for his training.

Quickly showering, getting dressed in his normal black and blue garb and eating a healthy breakfast, Naruto left his apartment to go to one of the training grounds surrounding Konoha.

 _Half an hour later_

Naruto arrived at a random training ground and set off to do his normal training routine. He placed his hands together and out popped two hundred clones.

"Alright, everyone shut up!" Naruto yelled at his doppelgangers.

Immediately all of the two hundred clones calmed down into near silence as Naruto began to go over his regime for the day.

"Listen up, I want all of you to divide up into one group of one hundred clones, two groups of twenty-five clones, one group of thirty clones, a group of ten, a group of nine, and one clone by himself." Naruto ordered as the crowd of two hundred began to mill about placing themselves into their own groups.

Once everyone was in their positions, Naruto began to hand out assignments.

"The group of one hundred, right now, our chakra control is still atrocious. By the end of this week before team assignments, I want to be able at least five hundred clones using the same amount of chakra I used just now to summon all of you." Naruto began, as all the clones obtained a determined gleam in their eyes while a lot of them stood up straighter. "Therefore, we are going to continue practicing the leaf balancing skill and we're going to change it up a little. I want one leaf on each limb and your forehead. At the same time, while balancing the leaves using chakra, I want you all to use the chakra pulsing technique we came up with. It will be extremely beneficial to be able to use chakra from any part of our body simultaneously without having to think about it." He finished as the crowd gave a dignified 'YOSH' and ran off to begin training.

Naruto then turned to the two groups of twenty five.

"I want you two groups to have a simulated battle. Only killing blows and amongst your team, divide yourselves into squads, plan out your course of attack, and put it into action. Assign a commander for both sides and discuss what was good and bad about each battle. Whenever there is a winning side, I will summon more clones to continue the simulations. Use whatever means necessary, only killing blows, as small wounds will disperse you guys as well." The clones nodded to themselves, grinning, as they already liked their assignment. "This will also help to train our reflexes, be creative, if something works for one side, I want the other side to try and find a counter to it; that will also help our strategy and battle side tactics immensely." With that said, the clones all rushed off to another part of the clearing to begin their part of the training.

He then addressed the group of thirty.

"Gentlemen, our ninjutsu arsenal is not that expansive, however, I know that the two academy jutsu they made us learn will come in handy one day, the Kawarimi no Jutsu more so than the henge. However, I want twenty of you to work on getting the replacement technique down without hand seals while the rest of you do the same with the henge jutsu. The last ten, see if you can't make a version that doesn't dispel upon contact. I wish we could work on those two jutsu Jiji gave to us yesterday, but unfortunately I already promised Ten-chan that I would work on it with her." Naruto instructed as this group, too, ran off to their own portion of the training ground to begin what they all thought was reasonable training.

Walking towards the group of ten clones, Naruto spoke, "You ten are going to work on our twin chokuto katas. As Ten-chan told us, it is normally the basics that will save our lives and I for one intend to master them before moving on to bigger and better things." At that last thought, all of the clones got a dangerous look to their faces as they thought about eventually learning deadlier sword techniques than what they already knew. "I want this in a sparring style. Pair off with each other and attack, defend and counter. That way we get the basics down while correcting anything that may seem wrong. Find holes in our forms and point them out. Try new ways to feint and catch your opponent off balance, but do not hit each other. This will also serve as a form of self-restraint for ourselves. There may be a time where we cannot kill our opponent due to necessary information they may hold or to them being an asset to the village." Naruto finished as the group of ten nodded, paired off and began sparring with each other.

He then focused his attention on the odd numbered group of nine clones.

"You nine have the most important jobs in my opinion. All nine of you will henge into an older looking ninja, randomly, and will go to the shinobi library. I want 5 of you to research techniques in each element, one clone to an element, and for right now, D or C ranked will do perfectly. The other four of you will be learning about the different major hidden villages, Suna, Kumo, Kiri, and Iwa. Learn about their clans, their hokages, and their tendencies towards other villages, anything you might think is important, research it further." Naruto said seriously as the clones stood at attention realizing just how important their job was, truly. All of them henge'd into a different looking chunin and walked off with the shinobi library as their destination.

He turned to the lone clone, finally.

"I want you to practice the 12 hand seals and work on performing them faster. Down the line in a fight, if we can perform our seals faster than our opponent, than we have already won half of the battle. This is important, in fact I'll give you another clone who will tell you random seals and you will have to form them as fast as possible while the second clone will look for any mistakes in your formations." Naruto explained as he placed his hands in the cross seal and with a shout of 'Kage Bunshin no Jutsu' a clone popped up with its instructions already known. The pair wandered off to perform their own task.

Naruto turned to focus on meditation for the incoming influx of memories before a thought struck him.

' _I wonder if my clones receive the memories of shadow clones that get dispelled as well.'_

With a quick hand sign and a burst of chakra, two shadow clones popped up in front of Naruto. Naruto leaned over to one and whispered into his ear before punching it to dispel it.

"Oi," came the cry from the other clone, "what do you mean he's better looking than me? We're the same person!" he cried.

' _Excellent, that will make things go much faster, and will make it easier on me as well.'_ Naruto thought to himself. Turning to the last clone, he instructed.

"Alright, I want you to dispel with this information. For the one hundred clones practicing chakra control and the thirty clones practicing the academy jutsu, every time one of you makes progress, dispel yourself so that the rest of you gets that experience and can move on from there." The clone nodded and dispelled itself as all of the surrounding clones stiffened in surprise at the information before returning to their tasks at hand.

Naruto smiled proudly as he thought about what he had just done.

' _Heh, by having my clones do that, I will only get their memories one at a time and I can really buckle down and get through each memory and commit to it! I'm awesome, yeah!'_ He quickly congratulated himself as he sat to begin meditating in preparation of the information he was about to get, to stave off any impending headaches.

* * *

About an hour later, as Naruto was still meditating, he received the memories from five of the nine clones he had sent to the shinobi library to find jutsu that he could work on for each element.

' _Hmm, it seems that they were all successful in their endeavor. Perfect, let's see what we have to work with.'_ Naruto thought as he quickly listed off the different jutsu he had found. _'For Fire techniques, we have 'C-rank' Great Fireball Technique/Gokakyu No Jutsu, and 'C-rank' Phoenix Sage Flower Technique/Hosenka no Jutsu. Both of them are 'C-ranked' but they can both be raised to 'B or A-rank' depending on the amount of chakra used. For Hosenka no Jutsu, it says that kunai or shuriken can also be concealed within the fireballs to serve as a last second strike if the fireballs are countered. Interesting.'_ Naruto quickly listed off a few ways that he could use these techniques when needed and moved on to the next element.

' _Okay, fire is weak to water, that makes sense. For water we have 'C-ranked' Tornado of Water/Mizu no Tatsumaki, a jutsu that creates a spinning vortex around the user and acts as both a barrier and attack mechanism. Nice. The second one we have is the 'D-ranked' Water Shuriken Technique/Mizu Shuriken no Jutsu, which manipulates water into shuriken controlled by chakra. It seems as though both of these require a good understanding of water manipulation and so my clone researched more into water manipulation. Good, that will come in handy.'_ Naruto nodded to himself, already proud of the four techniques that he had so far to work with.

' _Alright, next is earth, woah! An 'E-rank and a B-rank?!' How could we have possibly found a 'B-ranked' jutsu? Maybe, we got it from Iwa after winning the Third Shinobi War? No matter, I'll definitely be learning these two jutsu, Stone Bracers/Ishi Yoroi no Ude (E) and Earth Dragon Projectile/Doryuudan (B). I always thought that earth ninjutsu was more defensive, but this 'B-rank' sounds outright dangerous, and this 'E-rank' jutsu will be perfect with my kenjutsu and will also give more durability to my clones!'_ By this point, Naruto was getting jittery just thinking about all of the new techniques he would have in his arsenal.

' _Now, the weak point to earth is lightning. Let's see what we have to work with.'_ Naruto thought to himself, as he went through his memories again. _'So it seems that my clone was only able to find one lightning jutsu and it's a 'D-rank' at that, Lightning Bolt Technique/Rakurai no Jutsu. It seems similar to the Phoenix Sage Flower Technique but only shoots one bolt at a time instead of multiple shots. Doesn't matter, I'm still going to learn this as a well-balanced shinobi is more prepared than a specialized one.'_ He confirmed to himself as he moved on to the next element.

' _So wind, huh? Okay I was able to find two wind jutsu. An 'E-rank and a C-rank.' The 'E-rank' is Wind Levitation/Kaze Fuuchuufuyuu. It is designed to push chakra powered wind under an object to lift it into the air. The heavier the object, the longer it takes. Next we have the 'C-rank' Great Breakthrough/Daitoppa. This technique uses wind chakra to blow a wave of wind capable of leveling anything in its path at higher levels or serve as a method of blowing your opponent away._

Satisfied, Naruto stood up from his meditating. He quickly composed himself, brushing off some dirt that had gotten onto his pants.

"Okay! Time to get to work!" He encouraged himself, getting ready to start some heavy ninjutsu training. "I noticed in my spar with Ten-chan yesterday that even though I received my clone's memories from the chokuto katas, it wasn't as effective as when I'm doing it. Maybe I'll learn the techniques on my own and then have my clones practice it from there, that way I know what it feels like to shape and perform but my clones can get the hand seals down and help make my chakra output more effective.

Naruto began to go through the list of techniques he had acquired in the last few minutes. _'Okay, I have nine more jutsu to train, not including the Shuriken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu and the Kunai Kage Bunshin no Jutsu. I think I will start with the elemental training first, that way I can perform the techniques easier and faster. Based on that, I will have to do the leaf cutting, leaf burning, leaf drenching, turning the leaf to dirt, and crinkling the leaf. Luckily, it gives me tips on how to shape my chakra. Guess I'll get started with wind.'_

Naruto then went to the tree nearest to him and plucked a leaf, _'Alright, it said in the scroll that I have to fold my chakra over itself and sharpen it by grinding it together.'_ Naruto set his face in a look of seriousness as he focused on his chakra, trying to do just as the scroll told him to.

* * *

Thirty minutes later, Naruto paused from his wind nature transformation and looked at his progress. The leaf had a small nick in it starting from the top and continuing maybe a quarter of the way down the leaf. He smiled and just as he was about to dive in again, a thought popped into his head.

' _My clones can probably do this kind of training too, right? All I would need is the memories of them moving their chakra, well… my chakra I guess, ahh… my brain hurts from that kind of thinking. Anyway, let's try that and see what happens!'_ Naruto smirked as he placed the leaf down and made his signature hand sign.

"Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Another one hundred clones popped into existence, further dividing Naruto's own chakra evenly, giving each one of the one hundred clones a little more than a genin's worth of chakra.

"Alright, I think it's time I really started to abuse this technique. I want five groups of twenty and each group is going to work on a different chakra transformation!" A cry of 'YOSH' rang out in the clearing as they quickly assembled themselves and grabbed a leaf from one tree, leaving the tree looking rather bare.

"Remember, when one of you makes progress, make sure to dispel yourself so that we don't overlap on progress and can keep moving on!" Naruto reminded the clones as he sat back down, now with five leaves to practice his own manipulation as he prepared for the memories to start rolling in.

This was how Naruto's personal training went for several hours before he had completely exhausted himself trying to perform all of the various tasks that he had assigned his clones. As he lay panting on the ground trying to sort through all of the memories he had received when he told them to dispel in their respective groups, one at a time, so as not to jumble the information, he remembered that he still had his own training with Tenten soon. As he looked to the sun to figure out the approximate time, he realized that he had about two hours before he had to meet Tenten.

Naruto dragged himself off of the ground and began walking back towards his apartment to hopefully take a nap, eat, and recover at least a little of his chakra and energy before his training with Tenten.

* * *

Two hours later and after a well-deserved nap, in Naruto's opinion, said young blond was currently making his way towards the same clearing where he had met the weapon-obsessed girl just yesterday. As he approached the clearing, he saw her sitting down reading the two scrolls provided by the Sandiame Hokage.

"I hope you didn't start without me," Naruto commented jokingly.

Tenten started at the abrupt voice before turning around and smiling in an embarrassed manner.

"Of course not, Naruto-kun! I was just reading the scrolls to see if I could decipher anything from the technique before we got started. Naruto waved her off.

"Mah, mah, I was just kidding, no need to get defensive about it." He chuckled, however, Tenten pouted.

"Then don't make such comments!" She cried while willing herself to not hit him on the head for making her embarrassed over a non-issue.

"Anyways, are you ready to start? I actually had to take a nap before we started because of how hard I was working on my training earlier." Naruto began as Tenten frowned at the boy.

"Are you going to be okay for this? If you don't have the energy then we can always do this later or on our own time." Tenten mentioned, trying to be casual but ended up sounding worried for her favorite blond.

"Nah, it's okay. You don't have to worry about me, I have tons of chakra and energy! I just needed that nap to replenish some of it from all of those shadow clones I used." Naruto laughed out loud at how ridiculous he sounded, making it seem like his clone jutsu wasn't one of the most chakra intensive techniques there was in the village.

"Whatever, I still think it's totally unfair that you can just spam clones that can learn information and muscle memory for you," Tenten complained, "But yeah, you're right. Let's get started."

The two genin gathered around the scrolls and began reading them out loud to each other.

"Okay, this scroll for the Kunai Kage Bunshin no Jutsu says: _The user creates up to a thousand shadow clones from one shuriken, striking down the enemy. This is a technique that combines ninja tools with ninjutsu. Compared to normal shadow clones, clones of material objects are said to be on a far higher level, as it is not a clone of the person itself. There is no need for preparations beforehand, like stocking up on shuriken, yet since the shadow clones are real and not illusions, all copies of the original shuriken being equally lethal. Evasion is next to impossible due to the clones forming in an instant. This technique can also be used in junction with the fuma shuriken, increasing its lethality._ _ **Side Note: The sister technique: Kunai Kage Bunshin no Jutsu is easier to perform due to not having as complex a shape, therefore requiring less chakra, but it still just as lethal.**_ _Hand signs are: Ox → Dog → Dragon → Rat → Dog → Boar → Snake → Tiger. User MUST keep image of the shuriken they are attempting to recreate, otherwise jutsu will fail._ " Naruto looked at what he had just read awed at the implications of what this technique could do in a fight. After a few seconds, a fierce shiver traced up his spine as he realized that Tenten would have this jutsu as well, and with her accuracy… Naruto stopped thinking about his companions abilities, keeping himself sane. Tenten, however, already had a wicked grin on her face and an excited gleam in her eye.

"That's… that's incredible! I can't believe Hokage-sama would give us this type of jutsu for us to learn! It's perfect for my style of fighting and for your chakra capacity!" Tenten pretty much shouted for all of the world to hear.

* * *

Inside of the Hyuga compound, Tenten's teammate, Neji Hyuga, shivered uncontrollably as he felt a cold wave pass through his body.

"Fate must have decreed that something terrible in the universe has just happened. I hope it doesn't affect me too much." He mumbled to himself, before continuing his duties.

* * *

"Alright, let's look at the other one then, shall we? Kunai Kage Bunshin no Jutsu. It says here that: _The user creates up to a thousand shadow clones from one kunai, striking down the enemy. This technique is on a completely different level from the shadow clone technique as it utilizes material objects rather than the user itself. Preparations are unnecessary as the kunai's shadow clones are just as lethal as the original._ _ **Side Note: Kunai Kage Bunshin no Jutsu is easier to use due to not having as complex a shape as its sister technique, Shuriken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu.**_ _Hand signs are: Ox → Dog → Dragon → Rat → Dog → Boar → Snake → Tiger. User MUST keep image of the shuriken they are attempting to recreate, otherwise jutsu will fail._ " Naruto looked at Tenten and then back at the scroll before preparing to speak.

"I think we should start with the Kunai Kage Bunshin no Jutsu, don't you think?" He asked, knowing that Tenten might not have the reserves for the Shuriken variant of the jutsu.

"Yeah, I guess you're right about that. How long do you think it will take to learn this jutsu?" Tenten asked Naruto.

"Well, I have more chakra than you, but you have much better control over your chakra than I do. So I guess it will probably take about the same amount of time for us to learn it together." Naruto said causing a fire to erupt in Tenten's eyes.

"Well then! I'm going to beat you to the punch and learn this technique before you do!" Tenten challenged as Naruto sweat dropped not expecting the reaction that he got from the girl. After a quick thought though, Naruto quickly accepted the challenge and got to work to beat Tenten with learning the technique; Naruto trying to force his insane amount of chakra into the jutsu while Tenten trying to finesse the technique to work.

"Heh, I can feel it coming along already, Ten-chan! You better get ready to lose!" Naruto quipped.

"Oh yeah? Well, how about we make it more interesting?" Tenten fired back. Naruto stopped what he was doing and looked at her.

"Interesting how?" He asked. Tenten smirked.

"How about a wager? If you win, you get one favor from me, but if I win, you have to treat me to dinner!" Naruto paled.

"But I'm not a full genin yet! I don't have any money right now!" He complained.

"Fine then, you can treat me to dinner as soon as you find yourself with some money." At this Naruto placed his finger on his chin in a thinking pose and after a few seconds, nodded, agreeing to the wager.

"You're on! You should prepare to owe me that favor, Ten-chan! Because I'm not going to go easy on you!" He shouted while Tenten looked victorious.

"That's the only way I would have it. If I had noticed that you were slacking off, I would've called off the whole thing and just made you take me out on a da—." Tenten slapped her hand over her mouth at her slip up.

' _Shoot! I can't believe I just said that! I'm such an idiot! There's no way that he would agree to it now!'_ Tenten's mind was racing as she scrambled to find a way to get herself out of the awkward situation she had put herself in.

"Huh? What was that, Ten-chan?" Naruto asked. Tenten's face quickly flushed as she turned away slightly.

"N-nothing, Naruto. Let's just get started, do we have a deal?" She stammered suddenly.

"Yeah, let's do this! I'll win this no sweat, believe it!" Naruto exclaimed confidently as both began to work on the jutsu once again.

* * *

The rest of the week flew by as Naruto trained in the mornings by himself and with Tenten during the afternoon/evening. Both of them ended up getting the technique down the same day, but Tenten's much better chakra control proved more efficient in learning techniques led to her winning the bet.

"Yes! I did it! Now for my side of the bet. You have to treat me to dinner!" Tenten shouted while pointing at Naruto. Naruto looked dejected for a moment at losing the bet, but in turn was able to turn his sadness into happiness for his friend learning a very difficult 'A-rank' technique.

"That's great Ten-chan! I'm proud of you, great job learning the Kunai Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Naruto congratulated his bun haired friend. However, Naruto's dejectedness did not go unnoticed by Tenten.

"Hey, Naruto. If you don't want to do this dinner thing we really don't have too. I'm sure we could find something better to do." She supplied hoping to cheer him up.

"Nonsense! Of course I'm taking you out to dinner! That was what the bet was and I'm sticking to it! Uzumaki Naruto never goes back on his word." Naruto quickly waved off her concerns with his big statement. He chuckled nervously afterwards.

"I… uh, don't actually know what to do in this situation. Where would you want to go and what should I do?" He asked nervously.

"Well, I'll figure out all of those details, but I expect you to treat this seriously, which means, you pick me up at my place, we go to dinner at a place of my choosing and then we go and do something afterwards of your choice, surprise me." She said. "I'll let you know when this is going to happen, so you're not caught off guard."

Naruto sighed in relief knowing that everything was at least going to be organized for him to follow. He didn't really consider it a date because he thought that there was no way Tenten would ever date him, the bane of the Leaf Village, but he still wanted her to have fun for her sake.

' _I just really hope I don't screw this up when it comes around.'_ Naruto thought to himself.

* * *

 _BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEE—_

*SLAM*

Naruto sprang out of bed raring for the day to begin. Today was team selections and Naruto would be damned if he wasn't fully prepared for what was going to happen today nor would he be late.

"I'm finally getting somewhere with my dream of being hokage! First genin! Then chunin! Oh man, by the time I reach jounin, I'll be a shoo-in for the hat for sure!" Naruto fist pumped to the air as he got himself ready for the day, showering, brushing his teeth, everyday hygiene things. He got himself a large breakfast due to not knowing what was going to happen during the day and wanting to be ready for everything. Naruto then strapped on his gear and went to the academy to get himself placed on a team.

* * *

"Team 1: Sasuki Otane…" Naruto, after getting to the academy quickly felt his adrenaline wear off as he listened to the droning voice of Iruka Umino.

' _I can't believe that Iruka-sensei is an ANBU member and even with being a kick ass shinobi, he still can manage to bore kids to death.'_

"Team 7: Sasuke Uchiha, Hinata Hyuga, Chouji Akimichi. Your jounin-sensei is Hatake Kakashi." Sasuke turned his nose upwards as he heard his team but had no comment on it. Hinata seemed to slump in her chair for some unknown reason while Chouji, although sad at not being on the same team as Shikamaru and Naruto, his two closest friends, accepted it and continued eating from his never ending bad of BBQ flavored chips.

A bunch of the girls in the class shrieked about how it was unfair that Sasuke got put on the one team where the girl doesn't fawn over him, but Sasuke actually considered that to be a blessing in disguise as he didn't have a fan girl on his team. Sasuke honestly didn't know what he would do if he had someone like Sakura on her team. Sasuke shuddered unconsciously.

"Team 8: Shino Aburame, Sakura Haruno, Kiba Inuzuka. Your jounin sensei is Anko Mitarashi." Iruka looked at this list in surprise. _'Dear Kami, help these poor genin get through her antics.'_ Iruka thought to himself as he quivered at the thought of having Anko as a sensei.

"WHAT?! I have dog breath and bug boy?! Why does this happen to me?" Sakura cried to herself as she glanced at Sasuke, only Kami knowing what was going through her head at the moment.

"You got a problem with that, Forehead?" Kiba challenged, already attempting to insert himself as the alpha of the team.

"Quiet! If you don't agree with the teams, perhaps you would like to bring it up to Hokage-sama and explain why you could do a better job than Sandaime-sama could!" Iruka quelled the rebellious actions quickly.

Both genin looked down as they were loudly reprimanded, knowing that they could not go against their hokage's words.

"Continuing on, as Team 9 is still in circulation from last year, Team 10 will be: Naruto Uzumaki, Ino Yamanaka, and Shikamaru Nara. Your jounin-sensei is Asuma Sarutobi."

As soon as Iruka was finished announcing the teams, a scroll rocketed through the window and conveniently bounced off of Iruka's head to land on the desk. A poof a smoke later and a banner that read 'Konoha's Sexy and Single Leader of Team 8: Mitarashi Anko!' appeared along with said woman herself.

"Anko… you're early… why?" Anko ignored the question and instead turned and addressed the academy graduates.

"Team 8, you're with me! Meet me at Training ground 44 in 30 minutes or consider yourself not a genin anymore!" After hearing this, Shino, Sakura, and Kiba all scrambled to get out of the door.

The rest of the jounin-sensei came and grabbed their subordinates leaving only Teams 7 and 10. After waiting for another ten minutes, a poof of smoke signaled the arrival of another jounin-sensei. He was tall, broad shouldered, had a cigarette hanging from the side of his mouth which was trailing smoke, and was wearing the standard jounin uniform with his Guardian 12 sash attached to his waist. Naruto immediately recognized him as Asuma Sarutobi and was excited to be taught under a shinobi of such renown.

"Team 10 with me." Asuma's lackadaisical voice drawled out, however, his eyes showed enthusiasm at the prospect of having his own genin team to tort— hehe… teach.

* * *

 **And that's that! Hope you enjoyed chapter 5! Again I apologize for it being shorter, but if I had included what I wanted, it would have been way more than ten thousand words and I know from experience and from reviews that I have read on different stories that chapters longer than 10,000 tend to be difficult to read due to the length. I'll be back next Sunday but until then, Firestr2 out! Ja ne!**


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